COL.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  FLOWERS 
MEMORIAL  COLLECTION 


DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
DURHAM.  N.  C. 


PRESENTED  BY 

W.  W.  FLOWERS 


/ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/speechofwilliani1832brod 


THE  SPEECH 

OF 

W^illmm  M.  Mrodmax^ 

(OF  DINWIDDIE) 

IN  THE 

HOUSE  OF  DELEGATES  OF  VIRGINIA, 

ON  THE 
WITH  RESPECT  TO  ITS 

COI.OIIED  POPULATION. 


RICHMOND: 

Thomas  W.  White,  Printer. 
1832. 


r 


The  following  speech  is  published  at  the  request  of  a  number 
of  the  friends  of  General  Brodnax,  who  approve  of  the  peculiar  views 
which  he  preseuted  on  a  subject  of  general  interest,  and  especially  for 
the  information  of  his  immediate  constituents,  among  wliom  some 
incorrect  impressions  are  believed  to  exist  as  to  the  character  of  his 
opinions. 


HOUSE  OF  DELEGATES  OF  VlRGOfA. 


WEDNESDAY,  January  11,  1832. 
Mr.  Goode  of  Mecklenburg,  rose  to  move  the  following  resolution. 

Resolved,  That  the  select  committee  raised  on  the  subject  of  slaves,  free  negroes,  and  the 
melancholy  occurrences  growing  out  of  the  tragical  massacre  in  Southampton,  be  discharged 
from  the  consideration  of  all  petitions,  memorials  and  resolutions,  which  have  for  their  ob- 
ject, the  manumission  of  persons  held  in  f3ervitude  under  the  existing  laws  of  this  common- 
wealth, and  that  it  is  not  expedient  to  legislate  on  the  subject. 

Mr.  Randolph  moved  the  following  substitute,  to  be  inserted  after  the  word  "Southamp- 
ton :" 

 "be  instructed  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  submitting  to  the  vote  of  the 

qualified  voters  in  the  several  towns,  cities,  boroughs,  and  counties  of  this  commonwealth, 
the  propriety  of  providing  by  law,  that  the  children  of  all  female  slaves,  who  may  be  born 
in  this  state,  on  or  after  the  4th  day  of  July,  1840,  shall  become  the  property  of  the  com- 
monwealth, the  males  at  the  age  of  twenty  one  years,  and  females  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  if 
detained  by  their  owners  within  the  limits  of  Virginia,  until  they  shall  respectively  arrive  at 
the  ages  aforesaid,  to  be  hired  out  until  the  nett  sum  arising  therefrom,  shall  be  sufficient  to 
defra)'-  the  expense  of  their  removal,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  and  that  said 
committee  have  leave  to  report  by  bill  or  otherwise." 


THURSDAY,  January  19,  1832. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Brodnax  of  Dinwiddle,  the  resolution  moved  by  Mr.  Goode,  and  the 
substitute  therefor  proposed  by  Mr.  Randolph,  on  the  subject  of  the  colored  population  of 
the  commonwealth,  were  taken  up  ■  when 

Mr.  brodnax  rose  and  addressed  the  house.  He  commenced  by 
remarking  that  the  peculiar  position  which  he  occupied,  in  relation  to 
the  important  subject  which  had  engaged  their  consideration  for  some 
days  past,  rendered  an  explanation  of  the  course  he  had  pursued,  and 
of  his  views  and  opinions,  necessary.  This  position,  said  he,  as  is 
known  to  the  house,  has  in  a  great  degree,  arisen  out  of  circumstances 
over  which  I  could  not,  with  delicacy  or  propriety,  have  exerted  an}' 
efficient  control:  and  some  explanation  becomes  the  more  necessary, 
from  the  numerous  successive  phases  which  the  subject  has  assumed  at 
different  periods  of  its  discussion.  Without  the  slightest  change  hashing 
taken  place  in  any  principle,  or  opinion,  which  I  originally  entertained, 
the  question  itself  is  now  presented  in  an  attitude  and  manner  so  altered 
by  supervenient  occurrences,  as  to  render  it  proper  for  me  to  pursue 
the  object,  which  I  have  from  the  first  kept  steadily  in  view,  by  the 
adoption  of  a  course  entirely  different  from  that  which,  under  other 
circumstances,  I  had  prescribed  to  myself.  My  opinions,  as  an  humble 
individual  member  of  this  house,  however  unimportant  to  the  commu- 
nity at  large,  are  important  to  myself,  and  to  those  generous  constitu- 
ents who  have  confided  to  me  the  high  trust  of  representing  their  inte- 
rests in  this  most  important  session  of  the  legislature  which  has  occured 
since  the  foundation  of  our  government.  Yes,  sir,  the  agitation  of 
this  very  question  has  imparted  an  interest  to  our  proceedings  greater 
(whatever  may  have  been  said  or  thought  of  any  session  which  has 
preceded  it  in  our  history,  or  even  of  that  which  was  the  immediate 


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predecessor  of  the  present),  far  greater  interest  than  has  attached  to 
any  previous  measure  of  a  Virginia  legislature  since  the  revolution. 
A  subject,  sir,  of  deep  and  lasting  importance  to  the  prosperity,  per- 
haps to  the  very  existence  of  the  commonwealth,  has  suddenly  spruno- 
up  since  we  were  invested  with  our  trust,  and  demands  investigation 
and  decision. 

When  my  friend  from  Mecklenburg,  introduced  the  original  reso- 
lution now  before  us,  I  regarded  it  as  an  unfortunate  one.    I  sincerely 
regretted  the  movement,  while  1  was  convinced  of  the  purity  and 
patriotism  of  motive  which  had  dictated  the  course  of  its  worthy  and 
intelligent  author.    So  far  from  saving  labor  to  the  committee,  or 
operating  an  economy  of  time  in  the  house;  so  far  from  subduing 
that  excitement  which  was  diflu  sing  itself  over  this  assembly,  and  over 
all  Virginia,  or  correcting  any  of  those  erroneous  and  alarming  im- 
pressions as  to  the  character  of  the  measures  we  were  likely  to  adopt, 
which  were  said  to  have  been  circulated  in  newspapers,  and  to  have 
gone  forth  to  the  world,  I  believe  that  its  tendency  and  effects  would 
be  of  a  precisely  opposite  character ;  and  that  while  it  might  do  much 
mischiefs  it  could  produce  no  good.  I  regarded  the  movement  as  itself, 
eminently  calculated  to  aggravate  the  evils,  and  increase  the  embar- 
rassments it  was  intended  to  repress.  Had  those  petitions  from  Hanover, 
which  have  since  obtained  so  inflated  a  celebrity,  been  permitted,  on 
their  presentation,  to  take  the  ordinary  course,  without  opposition, 
and  without  comment,  the  whole  matter  would  have  glided  on  smoothly, 
without  creating  that  morbid  excitement  of  which  they  have  since  been 
the  fruitful  source.    And  afterwards,  had  the  committee  been  unin- 
terrupted in  its  progress,  in  due  time  it  would  have  reported  the  result 
of  its  deliberations,  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  would  have  been  adverse 
to  any  legislative  action  at  present  on  the  subject  of  the  abolition  of 
slavery  ;  and  then  the  house  would  regularly  have  entertained  the  sub- 
ject, in  the  ordinary  mode,  unaccompanied  by  any  of  those  factitious 
and  collateral  circumstances  of  excitement  which  now  obviously  sur- 
round it.*    I  consider  the  subsequent  motion  to  discharge  that  com- 

*  On  the  16th  of  January,  1832,  Mr.  Brodnax,  from  the  committee  on  the  colored  popu- 
lation, presented  the  following  i-eport : 

"The  select  committee,  to  whom  was  referred  certain  memorials,  praying  the  passage  of 
some  law  providing  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  commonwealth,  have,  accord- 
ing to  order,  had  the  same  under  consideration,  and  have  come  to  the  following  resolution 
thereupon : 

Resolved  as  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  That  it  is  inexpedient  for  the  present  legislature 
to  make  any  enactment  for  the  abolition  of  slavery." 

This  report,  in  which  Mr.  B.  concurred,  illustrates  the  correctness  of  the  impression  above 
expressed,  both  as  to  the  character  of  the  report,  and  the  time  at  which  it  might  be  expected 
from  the  committee.    And  on  the  question  of  the  reference  of  the  Hanover  petitions,  which 
prayed  the  abolition  of  slavery,  Mr.  B.  although  in  favor  of  their  reference,  in  common  with 
a  vast  majority  of  members,  had  expressed  his  individual  opinion  to  be  unfavorable  to  any 
legislative  enactment  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  and 
compensation  for  the  property.    The  reason  why  the  above  report  was  not  made  from  the 
committee  at  an  earlier  day,  was  simply  that  a  majority  of  the  committee  decided  that 
was  expedient  to  act  on,  and  dispose  of,  so  much  of  the  subject  referred  to  them,  as  relate^^ 
to  the  free  negroes,  previously  to  their  taking  up  that  which  related  to  the  slaves — believing'' 
as  they  did,  that  the  former  was  preliminary  in  its  character,  and  that  ulterior  measures  on 
the  latter  and  more  important  branch  of  the  subject,  were  naturally  and  essentially  depen- 
dent^on  what  might  be  determined  on,  with  regard  to  the  former.  This  is  the  simple  solution 
of  that,  to  which  somealfected  mystery  and  importance  are  attached  in  the  recent  numbers 
of   Appomattox ;"  and  as  the  committee  consisted  of  a  decisive  majority  of  those  who  hold 
the  same  opinions  with  the  author  of  those  essays,  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  he  should 


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mittee  from  the  consideration  of  a  subject  which  had  been  referred  to 
them  by  a  very  large  majority,  and  in  effect  to  reverse  that  decision, 
when  it  was  known,  that  in  some  shape  or  other,  and  at  some  time 
during  this  very  session,  the  great  question  involved,  would  have  to 
be  met  and  discussed,  and  decided  ;  and  this  too,  after  permitting 
weeks  to  elapse,  while  the  committee  was  assiduously  engaged  on 
other  branches  of  its  duty  preliminary  to  this — during  which,  "ru- 
mour with  her  hundred  tongues,"  was  allowed  an  unrestrained  influ- 
ence far  and  wide;  and  when,  at  length,  after  a  tempestuous  voyage, 
we  were  in  sight  of  land,  with  every  probability  of  a  report  from  the 
committee  within  very  few  daj's,  and  probably  before  this  discussion 
itself  could  terminate — as  irregular  and  injudicious.  And,  sir,  I  en- 
tertained a  decided  opinion  that  this  great  question  itself,  would  have 
been  more  effectually  put  at  rest;  that  the  community  would  have 
acquiesced  with  greater  satisfaction  in  any  determination  we  might 
have  come  to;  and  that  a  more  abiding  and  permanent  effect  would 
have  rested  on  our  labors,  had  the  investigation  been  approached, 
conducted,  and  disposed  of,  in  the  usual  parliamentary  mode,  which 
the  experience  of  ages  has  indicated  as  the  most  favorable  to  calm 
deliberation  and  correct  decision.  With  these  views,  I  should  have 
been  gratified  had  the  resolution  never  been  presented  ;  or  had  it  im- 
mediately been  laid  on  the  table,  or  indefinitely  postponed.  Such 
was  the  disposition  of  it  which  I  should  then  have  voted  for.  It  has 
now  become  a  matter  of  not  the  slightest  importance  whether  it  be 
adopted  or  not;  for,  Mr.  Speaker,  the  aspect  of  this  question  has  now 
become  materially  varied.  The  time  has  passed  by  when  it  would 
be  discreet,  if  practicable,  to  arrest  the  course  of  this  debate.  It  is 
now  useless  to  survey  the  ground  we  have  gone  over,  as  it  is  too  late 
to  retrace  it.  We  have  "  passed  the  Rubicon."  The  ball  has  been 
set  in  motion,  and  who  can  retard  its  onward  course?  This  debate 
has  now  progressed  for  several  days;  and  we  have,  like  Macbeth  of 
old,  in  scenes  of  blood— 

"  Stept  in  so  far,  that  thougli  we  ".vade  no  more, 
Returning  were  as  tedious  as  go  o'er." 

The  house  would  eventually,  have  to  act  on  any  report  from  the 
committee;  and  as  the  subject  had  already  occupied  so  much  time, 
and  could  again  be  resumed,  I  consider  it  most  expedient  for  the 
house  to  act  in  anticipation  of  the  report,  definitively  on  the  subject 
at  once,  while  it  has  it  before  it.  From  this  consideration,  I  shall  now 
vote  against  the  further  action  of  the  committee,  and  as  on  a  final  set- 
tlement of  the  question;  and  I  hope  that  other  gendemen  who  agree 
with  me  on  the  principles  involved,  will  pursue  the  same  course. 

I  have  thought  this  preliminary  explanation  of  the  reasons  of  my 
course  in  connexion  with  these  resolutions,  but  due  to  m3^self,  to  ob- 

have  imagined  that  the  report  was  withheld  from  any  design  hostile  to  his  views — not  mo:-e 
remarkable,  however,  than  that  for  the  purpose  of  proving  an  inconsistency  in  different  po- 
sitions maintained  by  Air.  B.  he  should  first  have  cited  a  portion  of  his  speech,  and  then,  as  in 
conflict  with  it,  a  series  of  remarks,  Avhich  happened  not  to  have  been  in  another  part  of  Mr. 
JB.'5  speech,  as  alleged,  but  in  that  of  a  different  gentleman;  and  to  whom,  indeed,  Mr.  B. 
was  replying!  The  mistake  wsis,  no  dowht,  unintentional — but  should,  surely,  in  common 
justice,  before  this  time  have  been  corrected. 


G 


viate  the  supposition  of  any  change  in  my  opinions,  or  any  deparluro 
from  my  consistency. 

In  coming  to  the  great  question  itself,  which  is  before  ns,  I  assure 
you,  Mr.  Speaker,  in  solemn  sincerity,  that  in  the  whole  course  of  my 
life,  personal,  professional,  or  political,  I  have  never  approached  the  dis- 
cussion of  any  subject,  whatever  may  have  been  its  character,  or  on 
whatever  arena  it  may  have  occurred,  whether  judicial,  legislative,  or 
popular,  with  any  comparable  degree  of  the  feeling  of  responsibility 
which  now  weighs  upon  me.  I  have  never  before  felt  in  all  its  force 
and  impression,  the  absorbing  interest,  the  tremendous  responsibility 
of  making  laws  for  a  great  community.  It  is  a  feeling,  I  presume, 
sir,  common  to  us  all.  Yes,  sir,  tlje  humblest  member  in  this  hall  may 
now  well  feel  that,  like  another  Atlas,  the  weight  of  the  worJd,  to  some 
extent,  rests  on  his  shoulders.  And  who,  sir,  will  regard  this  expres- 
sion as  an  unmeasured  In^perbole,  when  he  reflects  that  any  error  we 
may  now  commit,  must,  from  its  nature,  be  irretrievable;  that  when 
we  take  up  the  line  of  march  which  is  proposed  to  us,  there  can  be 
no  halting  or  returning ;  and  that  any  false  step  we  may  now 
take,  can  never  be  retraced,  or  its  direction  obliterated.  Will  it  be 
deemed  an  idea  too  bold,  or  language  too  strong  or  extravagant,  that 
I  do  not  circumscribe  the  limits  of  these  effects  to  the  commonwealth 
of  Virginia,  but  view  them  as  passing  her  borders,  and  by  degrees 
extending  over  the  ivorld?  Wlio,  sir,  lias  surveyed  this  subject  in  all 
its  dimensions,  its  bearings  and  tendencies,  proximate  and  ulterior, 
without  perceiving  that  it  involves  not  only  the  vital  interests  of  Vir- 
ginia, the  interests  not  only  of  the  thousands  who  now  people  her 
regions,  and  of  the  millions  yet  unborn,  who  are  to  spring  up  after 
us,  but  that,  from  its  nature,  it  is  to  exert  an  influence  which,  to  some 
extent,  will  operate  "  for  weal  or  for  wo;"  on  all  the  sister  states  of  this 
great  confederacy — on  the  free  citizens  of  all  America — on  the  sable 
tribes  which  inhabit  the  continent  of  Africa, — on  the  globe!  And  may 
I  not  add,  sir,  without  impropriety  or  irreverence,  on  earth  and  heaven  f 
Already  had  many  other  states  shaped  their  systems  of  policy  on  con- 
jectural anticipations  of  the  course  Virginia  might  adopt,  even  before 
this  legislature  assembled;  and  who  can  pretend  to  limit  the  bounda- 
ries of  this  influence  ? 

This  subject,  sir,  has  long  been  one,  with  me,  of  anxious  and  pain- 
ful reflection;  and  it  is  my  misfortune  to  be  unable,  entirely,  to  con- 
cur with  either  of  the  extreme  parties  in  this  house;  either  with  those 
who  hold  that  t!ie  existence  of  slavery  is  not  an  evil,  or  that  nothing 
can  or  ought  to  be  done  to  abate  the  evil  or  lessen  its  effects  :  and  Still 
less  with  those  who  propose,  as  a  remedy,  a  plan  fraught,  in  my  judg- 
ment, with  incalculable  mischiefs;  which  would  tear  up  By  the  roots, 
all  the  ligaments  which  bind  society  together,  subvert  principles  which 
have  been  consecrated  by  the  wisdom  of  ages,  and  break  down  every 
barrier  with  which  our  constitution  and  laws  have  fenced  the  security 
of  private  property;  for  such  is  the  light  in  which  I  am  compelled  to 
regard  the  monstrous  project  of  the  gentleman  from  Albemarle,  (Mr. 
Randolph.) 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  feel  deeply,  the  delicate  embarrassment  of  the  situ- 
ation I  am  called  to  occupy.    In  times  of  high  political  excitement, 


7 


when  counter-currents  sit  strongly  in  opposite  directions,  the  position 
of  the  moderate  man,  who  may  not  conscientiously  sail  on  either — 
who  is  equally  averse  to  either  extreme,  and  believes  that  there  is  pru- 
dence, and  wisdom,  and  safety,  in  the  maxim,         medio  tutissimus 
il)i§^^^'is  of  all  others  the  least  enviable.    It  is  said,  sometimes  to  be 
assumed  from  considerations  of  policy;  but  really,  the  individual  who 
would  commit  so  gross  a  blunder,  whether  he  looked  to  the  support 
and  approbation  of  the  friends  with  whom  he  was  associated  in  service, 
or  exclusively  to  his  own  political  preferment,  must  he  egregiously 
ignorant  of  the  strongest  impulses  of  human  nature.    Yes,  sir,  nothing 
but  conscientious  judgment,  or  folly,  can  ever  recommend  such  a  course. 
The  public  man,  who  refuses  to  rush  headlong  to  the    ultima  tJiuW'^ 
of  parly,  becomes  obnoxious  to  the  suspicions  of  the  ultra,  on  both 
sides,  and  is  apt  to  lose  the  confidence  of  all,  and  be  regarded  as  a 
neutral  by  both,  and  an  ally  by  neither.    Or,  stationed  on  the  middle 
ground,  he  is  exposed  to  the  shots  of  both  parties  in  the  conflict,  and 
can  expect  no  quarters  from  either.    The  moderate  man  has  also  to 
encounter  other  disadvantages.    He  does  not  possess  equal  facilities 
with  otliers,  in  recommending  his  views  and  opinions.  For,  the  states- 
man who  is  disposed  to  listen  to  "the  slill  small  voice"  of  reason  and 
modei  ation — who  is  willing  to  examine  frankly  and  fairly,  the  argu- 
ments and  principles  of  others,  without  regard  to  what  party  they  may 
belong,  or  from  what  region  they  may  have  come,  witiiout  considering 
reason  and  intelligence,  as  bounded  by  mountains  or  rivers—who  is 
anxious  to  call  from  both,  all  that  he  finds  valuable  in  either,  while  he 
rejects  all  that  is  erroneous,  pursues  a  course,  of  a  tenor  too  even  to 
excite  the  approbation,  or  command  the  deliberate  examination  of  those 
who  are  heated  in  the  conflict.   His  course  is  that  of  the  gentle  rivulet, 
which  winds  its  peaceful  way,  unseen,  and  unheard,  through  the  forests 
and  the  fields,  attracting  little  attention  ;  while  the  bold  and  ardent 
partisan  resembles,  in  debate,  the  noble  and  majestic  river,  on  whose 
margin  \ve  are  now  deliberating,  which  dashes  its  impetuous  torrent, 
impatient  of  restraint,  over  the  rocks  and  cliffs  which  would  obstruct 
it,  and  rushes  in  foaming  fury  to  the  ocean.   The  middle  ground  pre- 
sents no  field  for  the  exhibition  of  that  impassioned  feeling — those  bold 
and  striking  figures — those  brilliant  corruscations  of  a  vivid  imagina- 
tion, whicii  never  fail  to  attract  and  engage  us,  and  of  which  we  have 
witnessed  so  many  instances  in  this  debate.   The  calm  observer,  unaf- 
fected himself  by  the  enthusiasm  around  him,  is  regarded  as  tame  and 
uninteresting — and  deliberate  judgment  is  little  valued,  when  opposed 
to  "thoughts  that  breathe,  and  words  that  burn."   But,  sir,  these  con- 
siderations have  little  effect  on  me.    It  is  true,  I  regret, — yes,  sir, 
deeply  regret — that  I  am  unable  to  concur,  not  only  as  to  our  ultimate 
objects,  which  mainly  are  the  same,  but  on  the  mode  of  action  which 
expedience  might  indicate,  with  those  friends  in  this  house,  to  whom  I 
am  affiliated,  by  contiguity  of  residence,  and  identity  of  interest — by 
long  established  coincidence  of  opinion  on  all  subjects  of  general  policy, 
and  by  strong  ties  of  personal  regard.    But,  regardless  of  the  effects 
which  may  result  to  myself,  personally,  I  have  but  one  rule  of  action — 
that  is,  to  pursue  the  path     duty  which  my  best  judgment  may  point 
out.    I  may  mistake  its  traces;  no  doubt  I  often  do;  but  when  I  think 


8 


I  have  discovered  it,  I  will  endeavor  to  follow  it  steadily,  wherever  h 
may  conduct  me  :  and  support  those  measures,  and  those  alone,  which 
I  may  deem  most  beneticial  to  my  constituents,  and  most  auspicious  to 
m}'  country. 

Sir,  I  confidently  believe  that  a  plan  can  be  devised  to  mitigate,  if 
not  subdue,  the  evil  which  presses  so  sorely  upon  us,  entirely  consist- 
ent with  the  principles  which  have  been  so  ably  and  so  gallantly  main- 
tained b}'  gentlemen  from  my  own  region  of  country,  where  ihose  prin- 
ciples have  ever  been  regarded  as  sacred  and  inviolable;  and  yet  com- 
prehending all  that  our  brethren  from  other  divisions  of  the  state,  and 
holding  other  opinions,  ought  to  desire.  But,  sir,  unfortunately  I 
think,  both  parties,  in  the  heat  of  debate,  have  run  into  extremes,  which 
may  endanger  the  result.  Mr.  Speaker,  never  before  have  I  felt  so 
intensely  the  destitution  of  that  intellectual  vigor,  that  commanding 
influence  and  persuasiveness,  which  would  enable  me  to  imbue  others 
with  my  own  impressions,  and  carry  conviction  to  their  minds,  of  the 
truths  which  appear  so  clear  and  irresistible  to  my  own.  Sir,  would 
that  I  possessed  some  portion  of  that  "resistless  eloquence,"  which 

"  Wielded  at  will  the  fierce  democracy, 

"  Shook  the  arsenal,  and  fulmined  o'er  Rome." 

I  would  exert  it«Z/  on  this  occasion.  There  have  indeed  been  already 
*'fulminations  enough;"  but  I  would  exert  all  my  power  in  imploring 
gentlemen  on  both  sides,  to  mutual  conciliation  and  forbearance.  I 
would  exert  myself  to  induce  those  who  differ  most  widely  in  their 
views,  to  compromise  some  portion  of  their  exactions,— not  to  expect — 
not  to  desire  vyhat  either  believes  ruinous;  but  to  unite  in  deliberating 
on  some  plan,  from  which  results  beneficial  to  both  m.ight  be  devised. 
I  would  beg  of  them  by  every  consideration  I  could  urge,  not  to 
"tread  oh  the  deceitful  cinders"  beneath  us — not  to  peril  every  thing 
by  attempting  too  much,  or  refusing  to  do  any  thing.  Let  us  not 
refuse  to  do  any  thing,  because  we  cannot  obtain  all  we  desire.  Rea- 
son and  prudence,  in  the  common  affairs  of  life,  and  in  the  most 
weighty  concerns  of  states  and  empires,  certainly  point  out  a  different 
course.  Let  us,  in  this  conciliating  spirit,  examine  the  subject ;  and 
if  the  substitute  of  the  gentleman  from  Albemarle  shall  be  adjudged 
impracticable  and  unjust,  as  I  trust  it  will  be  regarded  by  the  house, 
let  us  see  if  some  other  plan  cannot  be  devised,  which  will  meet  the 
occasion,  and  promote  the  interests  of  all,  without  violating  the  rights 
of  any.  I  do  in  my  soul  believe  that  this  will  be  found  attainable,  if 
dispassionately  attempted.  My  own  views  of  the  features  of  such  a 
plan,  will  in  due  time  be  presented  to  the  house. 

Previously  to  entering  on  them  minutely,  I  will  take  occasion  to 
state,  that,  in  whatever  I  may  say  during  this  debate,  I  have  no  dispo- 
sition or  intention  to  wound  the  feelings  of  a  single  human  being  on 
earth.  It  is  a  delicate  subject,  I  know — on  which  excitement  is  avoi- 
ded not  without  difficulty;  but  my  object  shall  be,  to  pour  oil  on  the 
troubled  waves,  and  not  to  lash  them  into  fury.  And  if  I  know  any 
thing  of  my  own  heart,  I  would  far  rather  bind  up  an  hundred  wounds, 
than  inflict  a  single  new  one,  or  cause  an  old  one  to  bleed  afresh. — 
And  whatever  construction  might  be  put  upon  any  hasty  remarks, 


9 


which  may  fall  from  me  in  the  Impetuosity  of  debate,  I  wish  them  to 
be  considered  as  affected  by  this  general  declaration  of  my  feelings 
and  dispositions. 

It  has  now  become  perfectly  immaterial  what  disposition  is  made  of 
the  resolution  of  the  gentleman  from  Mecklenburg.  The  great  ques- 
tion involved,  can  now  be  decided  as  well  in  the  house  while  it  has  it 
before  it,  as  by  leaving  it  in  the  hands  of  the  committee.  But  if  the 
object  in  introducing  it,  was  to  avoid  a  full  and  free  discussion  of  the 
subject,  in  all  its  bearings,  it  is  one  which  I  cannot  approve.  It  is 
said,  that  any  action  on  the  subject  at  present,  might  be  regarded  as 
the  result  of  apprehension  and  fear,  produced  by  recent  occurrences. 
Sir,  for  one,  I  am  anxious  to  demonstrate  to  the  world,  that  it  is  a 
subject  which  we  are  not  afraid  to  discuss — that  we  are  prepared,  and 
willing  to  examine  it,  without^  any  affectation  of  mystery  or  conceal- 
ment. 1  do  not  regard  it  as  a  characteristic  of  true  courage  and  manly 
firmness,  more  than  of  ordinary  prudence,  to  shut  our  eyes  and  rush 
blindfold  against  danger  without  having  examined  it — but  on  the  con- 
trary, to  survey  it  carefully  and  deliberately  in  all  its  parts,  so  as  to 
calculate  correctly  its  extent,  and  its  capacity  of  injury— neither  to 
exaggerate  its  importance,  nor  to  underrate  it — and  to  make  prepara- 
tions commensurate  with  the  necessity,  so  as  to  meet  it  in  the  manner 
best  calculated  to  avert  or  subdue  it.  So  far  as  fear  is  involved,  I 
hope  we  shall  never  be  afraid  to  examine  into  our  real  situation.  Indi- 
viduals, and  nations,  are  often  ruined  from  the  fear  of  looking  their  true 
condition  in  the  face,  in  time.  They  avert  their  eyes  as  long  as  pos- 
sible, from  the  contemplation  of  impending  difiiculties,  The  man  in 
debt,  is  afraid  to  look  into  his  accounts  and  ascertain  the  extent  of  his 
embarrassments,  until  they  become  insurmountable.  By  surrendering 
a  part^of  his  property  at  once,  he  might  save  the  rest,  and  fill  up  the 
breach  which  imprudence  had  made,  and  b}^  altered  habits  prevent  its 
recurrence.  But  he  avoids  the  reflection — continues  to  hold  on  all, 
until  at  last  the  storm  bceaks  heavily  upon  him,  and  ruin  awaits  him. 
This,  sir,  is  not  the  policy  of  the  prudent  individual,  or  of  the  judicious 
statesman.     Such  bravery  as  this,  1  neither  profess  nor  admire. 

But,  sir,  could  we,  by  any  course  we  could  have  pursued,  have 
occluded  the  thorough  investigation  of  this  delicate  subject?  Are  there 
not  many  different  modes  by  which  its  discussion  might  be  brought 
before  us?  And  have  not  members  declared  their  intention  of  doing 
so  ?  Sir,  the  time  has  passed  by  in  the  history  of  the  world,  when  there 
can  be  any  sealed  subject"  in  this  .country.  The  spirit  of  the  age 
will  not  tolerate  suppression.  The  march  of  intellect  on  the  earth-— 
the  increased  spirit  of  inquiry  and  reflection — the  demand  in  other 
regions  for  more  liberal  institutions— the  flood  of  light  from  modern 
accessions  to  political  and  philosophical  science,  which  has  poured  in 
upon  us,  have  imparted  a  tone  of  inquisitiveness  to  the  public  mind, 
and  rendered  it  impatient  of  any  subject  being  enveloped  in  the  mantle 
of  mystery.  Already  had  public  attention  been  drawn  to  this  subject 
before  we  assembled.  It  was  a  subject  of  general  conversation,  in  all 
parts  of  our  country,  and  by  people  of  every  description.  It  is  dis- 
cussed at  the  fire-side,  at  the  public  taverns,  in  the  streets,  and  in  the 
newspapers.  The  people  all  over  the  world  are  thinking  about  it, 
2 


10 


speaking  about  it,  and  writing  about  It.  And  can  we  arrest  it,  and 
place  a  seal  on  the  subject?  We  might  as  well  attempt  to  put  out  the 
light  of  the  sun,  by  placing  an  extinguisher  on  it,  or  to  confine  its 
rays  *'  under  a  bushel."  We  live  already  in  a  new  age,  when  the  spirit 
of  inquiry,  and  a  thirst  for  the  acquisition  of  information,  is  wonder- 
fully extended  ;  and  it  would  be  useless  for  us  to  attempt  to  linger  on 
the  skirts  of  the  age  that  is  departing.  The  action  of  existing  causes 
and  principles  is  steady  and  progressing.  It  cannot  be  retarded,  un- 
less we  could  *'  blow  out  all  the  moral  lights  around  us  ;"  and  if  we 
refuse  to  keep  up  with  it,  we  shall  be  towed  in  the  wake,  whether 
willing  or  not.  The  idea  of  suppressing  discussion,  or  controlling 
thought  on  any  forbidden  subject,  is  now  impossible.  I  know  that  it 
has  been  assumed  that  the  general  interest  which  now  pervades  the 
country  on  this  subject,  was  superinduced  by  the  agitation  of  it  in  this 
house.  Sir,  this  is  a  great  mistake.  It  had  been  induced  by  previous 
events — by  causes  over  which  we  had  no  control— and  before  this  body 
convened.  The  spark  was  indeed  communicated  to  the  tinder,  by  the 
tragical  events  which  occurred  in  Southampton;  but  the  elements  for 
ignition,  had  been  much  longer  in  existence.  And  who  would  desire 
to  suppress  this  discussion — or  control  the  freedom  of  opinion — or  the 
liberty  of  the  press  ?  Much  complaint  has  been  made  of  the  course 
taken  by  the  newspapers  ;  and  no  doubt  the  licentiousness  of  the  press 
is  often  an  evil,  but  the  beneficial  efiects  of  that  great  engine,  are  in- 
comparably superior  to  its  evils.  For  myself,  I  do  not  regret  that  the 
seal  has  been  taken  off  of  this  subject.  A  regular  investigation  of  it 
will  render  any  detrrminaliuii  we  arrive  at,  more  satufaciory  and  quiei- 
zr?^  to  tlie  community  ;  and  1  am  glad  that  Virginians  have  now  an 
opportunity  of  declaring  to  the  world,  that  they  do  not  hold  their 
slaves  merely  by  sufferance-— and  of  exhibiting  the  grounds  on  *\'hich 
their  claim  to  them,  as  property,  is  founded.  I  do  not  admire  the  po- 
sition often  assumed  on  this  subject — that  it  is  a  right  which  needs  no 
explanation,  and  which  shall  not  be  examined.  Sir,  were  some  bold 
pretender  to  claim  of  me  the  very  land  on  which  my  family  resides,  I 
would  scarcely  content  myself  with  assertions  of  my  title,  and  that  he 
should  not  question  it ;  but  I  would  rather  prefer  to  exhibit  my  parch- 
ments and  title  papers,  and  defy  his  scrutiny.  I  regard  the  right  to 
our  slaves,  as  perfect  and  inviolable  as  that  to  any  other  property  we 
possess,  and  that  it  may  safely  be  submitted  to  the  most  rigid  exami- 
nation. 

That  slavery  in  Virginia  is  awevil,  and  a  transcendant  evil,  it  would 
be  idle,  and  more  than  idle,  for  any  human  being  to  doubt  or  deny. 
It  is  a  mildew  which  has  blighted  in  its  course  every  region  it  has 
touched,  from  the  creation  of  the  world.  Illustrations  from  the  history 
of  other  countries,  and  other  times,  might  be  instructive  and  profitable, 
had  we  the  time  to  review  them;  but  we  have  evidences  tending  to 
the  same  conviction  nearer  at  hand,  and  accessible  to  daily  observa- 
tion, in  the  short  histories  of  the  different  states  in  this  great  confede- 
racy, which  are  impressive  in  their  admonitions  and  conclusive  in  their 
^character.  That  Virginia, — originally  the  first-rated  state  in  the  union 
—the  one  which,  in  better  days,  led  the  councils  and  dictated  the 
measures  of  the  federal  government^  had  been  gradually  razeed  to  the 


11 


condition  of  a  third-rate  state,  and  was  destined  soon  to  yield  prece- 
dency to  another,  among  the  youngest  of  her  daughters;  that  many  of 
the  finest  portions  originally,  of  her  territory,  now  (as  was  so  glowingly 
depicted  the  other  day,)  exhibited  scenes  of  wide-spread  desolation 
and  decay,  that  many  of  her  most  valuable  citizens  are  removing  to 
other  parts  of  the  world,  have  certainly  been  attributed  to  a  variety  of 
causes;  but  who  can  doubt  that  it  is  principally  slavery  that  is  at  the  * 
bottom  of  all — that  this  is  the  incubus  which  paralyzes  her  energies 
and  retards  her  every  eilbrt  at  advancement?  I  presume  that  every 
body  is  prepared  to  admit  and  regret  the  existence  of  this  evil,  and 
that  something  should  be  done  to  alleviate  or  exterminate  it,  if  any 
thing  can  be  done,  by  means  less  injurious  or  dangerous  than  the  evil 
itself.  But,  sir,  it  is  on  this  point  on  which  so  much  diversity  of 
opinion  exists  among  us.  All  ivould  remove  it,  if  they  could.  Some 
seem  to  think  this  immediately  and  directly  attainable,  while  others 
conclude  that  it  is  a  misfortune  (not  a  crime,  for  we  are  not  responsi- 
ble for  its  iiitroduction  among  us,)  which  no  effort  can  remove  or 
reduce,  and  that  we  must  content  ourselves  to  submit  to  it  forever,  and 
avert  our  eyes  from  the  consequences  which  are  hereafter  to  follow. 
While  they  admit  that  every  hour  we  delay  lessens  the  possibility  of 
effecting  any  thing,  they  say  that  it  is  already  too  late  to  make  any 
attempt  which  will  not  aggravate  the  evil.  Tliey  would  treat  ns  like 
patients  affected  by  chronic  diseases  believed  to  be  incurable,  by  en- 
deavoring to  divert  our  minds  from  the  contemplation  of  our  real  situa- 
tion. Believing,  however,  that  there  is  an  entire  coincidence  of  public 
opinion  on  the  preliminary  question  involved,  I  deem  it  useless  to  enter 
into  a  long  abstract  discussion  of  the  origin  of  slavery,  or  the  evil 
effects  which  result  from  it.  AH  will  adjiiit  its  extinction  desirable,  if 
attainable — and  I  cannot,  therefore,  like  my  friend  from  Brunswick, 
undertake  to  follow  the  gentleman  from  Rockbridge,  (Mr.  xMoore,)  in 
the  discursive  flights  he  has  indulged  in,  in  a  general  disquisition  upon  ^ 
slavery.  He  translated  ns  occasionally  with  electrical  rapidity,  first  to 
China,  and  then  to  the  Rocky  mountnins.  He  amused  us  for  awhile 
on  earth,  and  then  mounted  up  to  Heaven,  Prometheus-like,  to  take 
fire  from  thence,  with  which  he  attempted  to  blind  and  confound  our 
Sauls  of  Tarsus,  as  he  regarded  us,  as  we  were  journeying  to  Damascus. 

The  people,  sir,  have  long  deeply  felt  the  embarrassment  and  impor- 
tance of  the  subject — and,  stimulated  by  recent  occurrences,  they  have 
lately,  with  a  simultaneous  movement  and  united  voice,  demanded  our 
interposition,  and  required  that  "  something'^''  should  be  done.  Yes, 
sir,  your  table  almost  literally  groans  vvith  petitions,  from  all  quarters 
of  the  state,  looking  to  us  for  some  remedy,  and  cr3^ing  out  in  language 
so  strong,  and  so  loud,  as  not  to  be  disregarded,  for  something  to  be 
done — and,  sir,  something  must  be  done.  But  they  have  not  petitioned 
you  to  decree  the  abolition  of  slavery — or  the  confiscation  of  their 
property.  They  have  not  applied  to  you  to  avert  an  evil  portentous, 
it  is  true,  in  its  appearance,  by  bringing  sudden  and  obvious  ruin  on 
them.  They  have  not  called  on  you  to  tear  all  their  property  away 
from  them,  or  manumit  their  slaves  without  indemnity  or  compensa- 
tion. No,  sir,  far  from  it.  With  a  very  few  exceptions,  this  is  a  vision 
which  had  not  crossed  their  imaginations.    They  have  prescribed  no 


12 


system,  and  indicated  no  plan.  This  they  have  submitted  to  the  judg- 
ment and  intelligence  of  their  delegates  in  this  assembly.  They 
expected,  and  wished  us  to  do  someihing.  M^hat  is  that  something  to 
he?  That  is  the  question.  Sir,  let  us  not  prescribe  a  remedy,  like 
that  which  comes  to  us  from  Albemarle,  nauseous  to  the  palate,  aiid 
far  more  pernicious  in  its  effects,  than  the  disease  Vv'hich  it  would 
remove. 

Any  scheme  for  the  gradual  diminution,  or  ultimate  extermination 
of  the  black  population  of  Virginia,  should  be  based,  as  a  substratum, 
on  certain  great  cardinal  principles  of  justice,  morality,  and  political 
expediency,  about  which  1  had  hoped  but  little  diversity  of  opinion 
would  be  found  to  exist.  They  are  such  as  lie  at  the  foundation  of 
all  civilized  society,  and  on  which  all  free  governments  must  rest. 
Any  action  on  this  subject,  without  due  regard  to  those  polar  princi- 
ples, would  not  only  fail  of  its  intended  effects,  but  would  be  subver- 
sive of  the  rights  of  the  citizen — and  ruinous  in  its  consequences. 
Among  these,  I  have  always  regarded  the  following  as  axioms,  which 
should  never  be  disregarded,  and  from  which,  for  one,  I  will  never 
consent  to  depart : 

1st.  That  no  emancipation  of  slaves  should  ever  be  tolerated,  unac- 
companied by  their  immediate  removal  from  among  us. 

2d.  That  no  system  should  be  introduced,  which  is  calculated  to 
interfere  with,  or  weaken  the  security  of  private  property,  or  affect  its 
value. — And 

3d.  That  not  a  single  slave,  or  any  other  property  he  possesses, 
should  be  taken  from  its  owner,  without  his  own  consent^  or  an  ample 
compensation  for  its  value. 

Unless  some  plan  can  be  struck  out,  in  our  united  councils,  entirely 
consistent  with  these  essential  principles,  dreadful  as  would  be  the  al- 
ternative, I  will  sit  down  in  silent  despair,  and  fold  my  arms  with  the 
desperate  resolution,  of  letting  the  evil  roll  on  to  its  horrid  consum- 
mation. It  may  not  attain  it  in  ray  time,  but  it  may  in  that  of  my 
children  ;  and  the  advice  I  vi^ould  leave  with  those  whom  it  has  been 
my  fortune  to  bring  into  the  world,  and  to  all  who  are  held  dear  to 
me,  if  nothing  can  be  done,  would  be  like  that  given  to  the  Jews  of 
old,  before  the  sacking  of  their  celebrated  city  :  "flee  to  the  mountains 
for  your  lives;"  or  like  that  to  the  few  favored  inhabitants  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,  when  about  to  be  consumed  by  fire  from  heaven, — • 
stay  not  in  all  the  plain."  But  such,  sir,  is  not  at  present  my  des- 
ponding view  of  the  subject.  I  have  come  to  no  such  painful  conclu- 
sion. Much  may  be  done  if  not  to  remove  this  evil,  at  least  to  abate  its 
extent— to  limit  its  effects—and  to  take  from  it,  its  most  dangerous  and 
most  fearful  tendencies.  I  do  believe  that  a  ray  of  light  has  dawned 
— -however  insufficient  to  illuminate  the  pathway  of  such  as  expect  to 
accomplish  the  full  measure  of  their  wishes  at  once—vvhich  if  steadily 
pursued,  will,  like  the  pillar  of  fire  which  was  followed  by  the  wise 
men  of  old,  lead  us  to  safety,  and  rescue  us  from  the  destruction  with 
which  we  are  threatened.  I  do  believe  that  measures  of  incalculable 
benefit  may  be  adopted,  entirely  consistent  with  those  great  principles 
which  I  have  assumed;  and  as  I  have  never  approved  the  course  of 
those  who  condemn  the  plans  of  every  body  else,  without  offering  any 


13 


of  their  own,  1  shall  certainly  submit  to  you,  before  I  conclude,  my 
own  views  in  minute  detail. 

As  the  resolutions  before  you,  Mr.  Speaker,  now  stand,  the  first 
question  presented  in  the  order  of  discussion,  is,  that  which  arises  from 
an  examination  of  the  plan  proposed  by  the  gentleman  from  Albe- 
marle, (Mr.  Randolph)  for  the  manumissio}),  or  rather  confiscation  to 
the  state,  of  all  the  post  nati  of  our  slaves,  after  a  given  period,  and 
the  reference  of  that  project,  to  the  qualified  voters  of  the  state.  Sir, 
I  cannot  hesitate  to  pronounce  the  whole  of  this  plan  monstrous  in  its 
features,  and  in  its  principles  tending  to  a  disruption  of  ail  the  lies 
which  bind  society  together.  It  infringes  those  rights  of  property 
which,  from  our  birth,  we  have  been  taught  to  consider  inviolable.  It 
abates  from  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  worth  of  property,  half 
its  value;  and  substantially  converts  all  that  was  a  fee  simple,  into  a 
life  estate.    Let  us  examine  it  for  a  moment. 

I  would  ask,  Mr.  Speaker,  if  such  a  measure  as  this  can  receive 
the  sanction  of  the  legislature,  what  will  have  become  of  all  our  con- 
stitutions, and  most  respected  laws  ?  What,  sir,  are  constitutions,  and 
charters,  and  bills  of  rights,  ever  made  for  ?  Are  they  not  devised  to 
protect  the  rights  of  the  few,  against  the  aggressions  of  the  many  ^ 
They  are  necessar}^  to  secure  to  minorities  their  privileges  and  their 
property — to  stay  the  lawless  hand  of  public  violence.  Majorities  need 
no  protection  ;  they  can  protect  themselves.  And,  if  among  these 
rights,  there  be  any  one  held  more  sacred  than  the  rest,  next  to  the 
right  of  personal  security,  is  that  of  private  property.  This,  indeed, 
is  in  some  degree,  the  foundation  and  security  of  all  other  rights  under 
government;  for,  no  others  can  exist  without  it. 

The  house  need  not  be  alarmed — I  do  not  intend  to  engage  in  an 
elaborate,  dry  discussion,  of  the  grave  constitutional  impediments  which 
oppose  the  adoption  of  this  startling  proposition.  It  is  true,  that  the 
constitutions  of  both  our  federal  and  state  governments,  have  erected 
barriers  for  the  protection  of  private  property, which  must  be  prostrated, 
before  such  a  measure  as  this  could  be  carried  out  into  efi^'ect.  But 
what  are  charters — or  constitutions— or  bills  of  rights,  on  a  question 
like  this  ?  I  would  not  give  a  rush  for  them  ;  charters  and  compacts 
can  be  broken  or  evaded.  The  charter  by  which  we  hold  our  slaves, 
is  antecedent  to  either;  it  is  founded  on  the  immutable  principles  of 
justice,  which  existed  before  the  formation  of  political  societies;  it  has 
received  the  approbation  of  man,  and  the  sanction  of  his  great  Creator, 
and  is  written  on  our  hearts.  Under  our  constitutions  and  laws,  it  has 
acquired  exactly  the  same  guarantee,  whether  fortunately  or  not,  as 
any  other  property,  and  it  can  now  be  regarded  in  no  other  light, 
legally  or  morally.  Mr.  Speaker,  moral  justice  and  political  justice 
are  always  the  same.  And  the  government,  in  all  its  delegated  autho- 
rity, can  take  from  not  one  of  the  humblest  of  its  citizens,  the  smallest 
particle  of  his  private  property,  in  a  case  in  which  an  individual  could 
not  morally  or  legally  exercise  the  same  right.  There  is  to  this  rule, 
but  a  single  exception,  and  that  is  founded  in  absolute  necessity. — 
INecessitas  non  habet  legem,  is  a  hard  rule,  but  an  inevitable  one.  When 
the  public  safety  and  prosperity,  obviously  require  the  deprivation  of 
private  property,  the  sacrifice  must  be  submitted  to.    In  such  a  case, 


14 


the  stale  possesses  an  acknowledged  right  to  appropriate  the  private 
property  of  the  citizen,  to  the  general  good.  B^xt  upon  what  con- 
dition? The  answer,  sir,  is  to  be  found,  not  only  in  our  federal  con- 
stitution, but  in  tlie  various  bills  of  rights,  and  constitutions  of  all  the 
states  in  our  union- — on  making  ''just  compensation^ -•  So  that  whether 
the  public  necessities  require  the  surrender  of  our  property  or  not,  it 
comes  to  the  same  conclusion.  Jt  cannot  be  taken  against  our  con- 
sent, but  on  paying  to  us  its  value. 

But,  sir,  we  are  told  that  this  famous  plan  is  not  intended  to  tear 
from  its  holders  any  property  they  possess.  No,  sir,  it  is  only  to  re- 
lieve them  of  the  future  increa?e  of  their  slaves,  after  the  designated 
period.  My  friend  from  Campbell,  (Mr.  Rives)  seems  entitled  to  the 
credit  of  originating  the  idea  of  drawing  this  distinction.  In  his  dis- 
cussion of  this  subject,  on  yesterda^',  several  ideas  fell  from  him  which 
demand  animadversion.  That  gentleman  is  so  amiable  in  his  dis- 
positions, and  so  gentle  and  conciliatory  in  his  deportment  and  feel- 
ings, that  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  every  idea  he  advances,  com- 
ports with  his  deliberate  conviction  of  what  is  just  and  proper.  Yet 
I  must  regard  the  ideas  themselves,  as  dangerous  and  revolutionar}'. 
His  argument  went  substantially  to  show,  that  however  unquestionable, 
to  the  owners,  was  the  right  of  property  in  their  present  slaves,  the 
product — the  fiiture  increase  of  those  slaves — was  not  their  property; 
but  a  subject  in  which  they  had  no  other  interest,  than  that  held  by  the 
rest  of  the  community.  There  is  certainly  some  plausibility  in  the 
idea,  that  we  cannot  claim  property  in  that  which  is  not  in  esse, — not 
yet  in  existence.  But  this  plausibility  is  dissipated  by  the  slightest 
reflection  on  the  subject.  The  maxim,  ^''partus  seqiiitur  ventrem,''^  is 
not  more  empiiatically  a  rule  of  the  common  law,  than  it  is  a  dictate 
of  common  reason,  and  of  common  sense.  Sir,  is  not  the  probability 
of  increase,  an  essential  constituent  in  the  value  of  a  female  slave? — 
Does  not  this  prospect  enter  into  the  calculation  of  value,  whenever 
one  is  purchased,  or  sold.^^  Who  has  to  bear  the  expense  of  support 
to  the  mother,  while  her  services  are  withdrawn  j  or  of  nurture  and 
maintenance  to  her  increase,  until  they  become  valuable  themselves? 
They  are,  by  this  plan,  to  be  supported  b}'  the  owner,  until  they  have 
attained  to  maturity  and  could  become  useful,  and  are  then  to  be  with- 
drawn. Who  would  consent  to  raise  them  on  these  terms?  Sir,  this 
idea  that  the  owners  are  entitled  to  the  parents  as  property,  but  not  to 
their  offspring,  is  one  on  which  argument  is  unnecessary.  When  the 
heat  generated  by  this  debate  shall  have  subsided,  the  sober  sense 
of  the  whole  community  will  cry  out  against  it.  Again,  sir,  I  will  ask, 
whether,  in  that  ver}^  charter  which  was  appealed  to  yesterday— the 
federal  constitution — it  is  not  expressly  provided  that  no  expost  facto 
law  shall  be  passed?  Is  not  this  a  fundamental  principle  of  our  state 
constitution  also,  and  a  dictate  of  reason  and  common  sense,  and  a 
principle  of  common  justice?  It  might  be  no  violation  of  this  ob- 
vious rule  of  propriety — of  this  constitutional  guarantee — (though  it 
would  certainly  be  very  absurd)~to  apply  this  principle  to  aiiy  future 
acquisition  of  this  propert}^  You  might  provide,  that  all  individuals 
who  hereafter  purchase  slaves  should  be  restricted  in  their  rights,  to 
the  enjoyment  of  the  services  of  the  existing  generation,  and  that  the 
post  natij  if  you  please,  should  be  free  after  a  stipulated  period  :  pur- 


15 


chasers  of  such  properly,  would  then  act  with  their  eyes  open;  and 
however  unwise  the  policy  might  be,  they  would  have  nothing  to  com- 
plain of,  and  it  would  involve  no  infraction  of  that  constitution  which 
all  of  us  have  sworn  to  support.  But  what  right  have  you  to  ex- 
lend  such  a  principle,  to  the  property  of  individuals  already  acquired, 
and  vested  in  them,  under  the  faith  of  existing  laws? 

Sir,  the  plan  proposed  by  the  gentleman  from  Albemarle,  is  not 
only  inefficient  in  its  consequences  to  attain  the  objects  which  he  pro- 
fesses to  have  in  view,  but  would  be  mischievous,  in  the  extreme,  in 
its  application  and  influence.  Its  operation  would  be  one  of  a  degrading 
character  to  the  stale.  It  holds  out  the  strongest  temptation  to  every 
gentleman  in  the  slate,  to  convert  himself  into  a  negro-trader.  This  plan, 
which  pretends  to  hold  out  freedom  in  view  to  this  unhappy  race,  yet 
allows  the  owner  to  sell  and  pocket  the  value,  of  every  one  of  these 
post  nati,  up  to  the  very  hour  in  which  they  are  to  be  entitled  to  their 
freedom.  And  I  will  ask  you  one  question,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  which 
I  invite  your  deliberate  reflection.  Do  you  really  believe,  that, 
under  the  operation  of  this  fanciful  system,  one  single  negro  ever 
would  be  liberated  in  the  state?  I  ask  you  to  pause  and  inquire  be- 
fore you  decide.  Do  you  not  believe  that  the  owners  of  these  young 
slaves,  would  hold  them  to  the  last  minute  in  which  it  would  be  safe 
to  do  so,  and  then,  just  before  their  title  to  freedom  accrued,  would 
sell  them,  if  there  was  a  single  market  open  for  them  in  the  world? 
Sir,  the  mass  of  mankind  are  always  governed  by  their  interests. — 
Some  there  are,  no  doubt,  who  would  liberate  their  slaves,  for  purposes 
of  deportation,  whether  such  a  law  as  this  existed  or  not ;  but  tijese 
would  do  so  without  the  law,  and  surely  the  law  itself,  would  never 
induce  them  to  do  it,  or  effect  the  freedom  of  a  single  human  being. 

Sir,  this  very  feature  also  involvel  an  immoral  tendency.  It  is 
calculated,  though  certainly  not  so  designed,  to  corrupt  both  master 
and  slave.  The  master  is  presented  with  every  inducement  to  hold 
these  after-born  in  servitude  as  long  as  he  can ;  and  then,  to  evade  the 
tolal  loss  of  their  value,  which  would  otherwise  result  from  keeping 
them  in  the  state,  by  selling  them  in  a  foreign  market.  And  what  is 
the  influence  to  be  rxerted  on  these  slaves  themselves,  who  are  in  this 
uncertain,  unhappy  predicament?  Would  not  the  enacimeni  of  such 
a  law  as  this,  hold  out  to  them  false  and  delusive  hopes  ?  Sach  as 
would  keep  them  perpetuall}'  in  a  restless,  unquiet,  uncertain  stale 
of  mind?  With  the  prospect  of  freedom  constantly  in  view,  would 
be  coupled  the  hourly  apprehension,  that  their  master,  by  selling  them, 
could  defeat  its  altainmeiit,  and  dash  from  their  lips  the  cup  so  long 
presented.  The  pains  oj"  Tantalus  would  be  given  a  real  existence. 
And  would  they  tamely  submit  to  such  a  disposition?  When  arrived 
nearly  to  the  point  of  time,  at  which  they  hoped  for  liberation, -and 
discovered  that  all  their  fond  conceptions  were  to  be  defeated,  by  sale 
to  a  new  master,  and  a  less  desirable  situation,  would  they  not  have 
the  strongest  temptations  to  rebel? 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  injustice  and  inequality  of  such  a  system,  on  the 
African  race  themselves,  constitutes  one  of  its  most  powerful  objec- 
tions. A  child  is  born  to-day — another  to-morrow,  but  after  the  pe- 
riod prescribed  to  entitle  it  prospectively  to  freedom.    They  grow  up 


16 


together:  hundreds  and  thousands  in  the  state,  in  the  same  families, 
of  nearly  the  same  ages,  will  occupy  this  legal  relation—some  with 
the  promise  of  freedom  ahead  of  them — the  others  with  none,  knowing 
that  some  were  destined  to  a  life  of  servitude,  while  the  rest  were  to 
be  free.  Will  this  inequality  of  condition,  do  you  suppose,  excite  no 
restlessness  and  dissatisfaction  among  them?  Will  they  not  feel  that 
the  same  principle  which  gives  freedom  to  one,  entitles  the  others  to 
it?  Will  they  quietly  submit  to  such  unmerited  distinctions?  Will 
this  not  also  lead  to  lawless  efforts  and  insurrections?  Rather  than 
be  sold  in  distant  climes,  to  unknown  masters,  many,  I  have  no  doubt, 
would  greatly  prefer  to  indenture  themselves  for  life,  to  their  recent 
owners,  and  near  their  accustomed  associations. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  another  objection  to  this  scheme.  It  is  not  to 
commence  its  operation  within  about  thirty  years.  It  is  to  produce 
no  practical  effect,  within  half  a  century.  If  it  is  intended  to  obviate 
impending  dangers,  what  is  to  become  of  us  all,  if  our  safety  be  the 
object,  in  the  mean  time?  But,  what  is  of  greater  import,  will  it  not 
be  subject  to  legislative  intervention  during  the  w^iole  time?  And 
before  a  single  one  of  these  fortunate  post  nati  could  attain  to  freedom, 
could  not  any  subsequent  legislature  repeal  the  statutes  which  we  might 
enact,  conferring  on  them  this  inchoate  right?  Have  gentlemen  re- 
flected on  the  character  of  the  discussions  which  would  certainly  be 
kept  up  here,  winter  after  winter,  on  this  subject,  until  the  day  of 
jubilee  should  arrive?  Have  they  thought  of  the  dangerous  excite- 
ment which  would  inevitably  be  engendered,  both  among  the  whites 
and  the  blacks,  during  this  dark  and  uncertain  period?  and  of  the 
thousands  which  would  be  expended  in  protracted  sessions  of  the 
legislature — enough,  perhaps,  to  remove  all  the  negroes  in  the  state? 
Arguments  have  been  derived  from  the  legislation  of  other  states — of 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  New  England  states,  in  favor  of 
the  plan  which  I  am  now  considering.  1  am  not  one  of  those,  sir, 
who  are  too  proud  to  borrow  principles  or  institutions  from  other 
states,  which  are  found  to  be  good,  or  to  profit  by  their  experience. 
But  we  should  not,  upon  trust,  adfipt  a  policy  inapplicable  to  our  situ- 
ation. They  have  taught  us,  indeed,  a  valuable  lesson  ;  one  which, 
I  hope,  we  have  learned— that  something  can  be  done.  Bur,  does  it 
follow  because  they  succeeded  in  removing  slavery  under  peculiar 
circumstances,  by  a  particular  process,  that  we  should  attempt  the 

'same  mode?  What  might  have  been  attainable  there,  may  be  ruinous 
here,  under  different  circumstances.  I  have  no  census  before  me  of  the 
former  population  of  these  states,  at  the  time  that  those  abolition  laws 
were  respectively  enacted  ;  but  \  liazard  little  in  saying  that  there  were 
not,  in  a  single  one  of  them,  as  many  slaves  at  the  time,  as  there  are  now 

free  negroes  even  in  Virginia.  When  the  evil  among  them  was  small,  it 
was  no  doubt  easily  crushed ;  and  if  the  rights  of  the  holders  were 
crushed  at  the  same  time,  it  is  because  they  were  not  sufficiently  nu- 
merous to  protect  thegtiselves — -and  it  is  the  fate  of  minorities  to  be 
trampled  on.  And  the  name  and  authority  of  the  venerable  and  illus- 
trious ancestor  of  the  gentleman  who  moves  this  proposition — the  im- 
mortal Jefferson — are  invoked  to  aid  and  sustain  it.  But  with  what  pro- 
priety, sir  ?  No  man  ever  felt  the  evils  of  slavery  more  acutely  tban  Mt. 


17 


Jefferson—no  statesman  was  ever  more  anxious  to  remove  them.  The 
plan  which  he  proposed  in  his  writings,  (but  which,  from  the  intrinsic 
difficulties  which  he  no  doubt  felt  would  attend  its  execution,  even  at 
that  day,  was  never  specifically  proposed  to  the  government  during 
his  long  and  brilliant  career  in  public  life,)  contained  features  essen- 
tially different  from  this.  I  do  not  understand  him  to  recommend  that  the 
offspring  of  the  slaves  should  be  torn  from  their  owners  without  com- 
pensation. His  last  letter  published  on  the  subject,  according  to  my 
construction  of  it,  is  of  opposite  import — and  he,  certainly,  does  not 
recommend  a  submission  of  so  important  a  measure  to  the  people,  in 
a  mode  which  gives  to  different  regions  of  the  state  a  relative  political 
weight  in  its  decision,  to  which  they  are  not  constitutionally  entitled. 
Again,  Mr.  Speaker:  a  plan  which  the  powerful  intellect  of  Mr. 
Jefferson  might  have  thought  possibly  attainable  at  the  time,  and  under 
the  circumstances  when  he  suggested  it,  might  be  greatly  inapplicable 
to  the  altered  condition  of  things  at  present.  And,  sir,  were  Mr. 
Jefferson  now  alive,  I  cannot  for  a  moment  believe,  that  he  would  ap- 
prove, at  this  time,  such  a  proposition  as  this.  Sir,  at  that  time,  there 
were  in  all  Virginia,  less  than  300,000  slaves,  and  only  about  12,000 
free  persons  of  color — \vhile  now,  we  have,  east  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains  alone,  about  455,000  slaves,  and  nearly  46,000  free  ne- 
groes— a  state  of  things  certainly  greatly  altered. 

Mr.  Speaker, — 1  understood  the  gentleman  from  Albemarle  in  his 
first  address,  after  introducing  this  substitute,  distinctly  to  say,  that 
he  himself  was  not  now  prepared  to  vote  for  any  specific  plan  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  but  wished  the  question  submitted  to  the  constitu- 
ent body.  I  cannot,  I  think,  well  be  mistaken, — for  it  struck  me  at 
the  moment,  as  a  remarkable  declaration,  and  it  left  a  deep  impression 
on  my  mind.  So  it  turns  out  that  the  gentleman  has  ushered  into  this 
house  a  measure  involving  the  most  momentous  consequences  that 
could  well  be  conceived  of,  on  the  interests  of  this  whole  common- 
wealth ;  while  he  himself  is  not  prepared  at  this  time  to  vote  either  for 
that  or  any  other  plan,  having  the  same  object  in  view,  if  presented 
in  the  shape  of  a  bill  to  this  assembly  for  its  final  action.  [Mr.  Ran- 
dolph here  explained.  I  understood  him  to  say  that  he  had  not  de- 
clared that  he  would  not  vote  for  his  resolution,  but  would  not  vote 
for  an  act  on  the  subject  until  submitted  to  the  people.] 

Mr.  Brodnax  resumed.  Mr.  Speaker,  I  understood  the  gentleman 
perfectly  at  first.  He  said  then,  as  he  says  now,  that  he  was  not  wil- 
ling to  vote  for  a  law  effecting  this  object  at  this  session.  Then,  why, 
Sir,  1  would  ask,  introduce  any  such  measures  before  us?  If  we  are 
not  prepared,  or  sufficiently  intormed  of  the  wishes  of  our  constituents, 
to  legislate  definitively  now,  why  agitate  the  state  on  so  delicate  a  sub- 
ject by  a  profitless  discussion  of  a  hypothetical  scheme?  The  plan  is 
not  to  operate  now,  if  adopted,  unless  mischievously.  But  it  is  only 
to  submit  the  question  to  the  people,  we  are  told !  Why  call  on  the 
people  on  this  subject — it  is  they  who  have  called  on  us.  Do  our 
constituents  expect  or  require  such  a  measure  as  this  at  our  hands.'* 
Have  they  petitioned  for  this'^  It  is  true  that  there  has  been  great 
excitement  among  the  people  throughout  our  state,  on  the  subject  of 


18 


our  colored  population,  and  that  nearly  all  -dgvee  something  should 
be  done.  It  is  true  that  they  have  preferred  numerous  petitions  to  us. 
But  do  any  of  them  ask  that  we  should  submit  any  plan  to  them  !  No, 
Sir,  they  pray  this  assembly  to  do  something.  They  do  not  indicate 
what,  with  any  precision,  it  is  true;  but,  by  a  remarkable  and  fortu- 
itous coincidence,  very  many  of  them  have  adopted  the  same  expres- 
sion— they  ask  us  to  adopt  "  whatever  measure  the  wisdom  of  the  Legis- 
lature may  devise  as  the  best."  They  are  not  prepared  to  act,  and 
they  call  on  us  to  act  for  them.  It  is  to  "our  wisdom"  that  the  ap- 
peal is  made — not  that  we  should  submit  it  back  again  to  their  wis- 
dom. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  plan  of  framing  a  law,  and  submitting  it  to  the 
people,  is  certainly  a  plausible  one.  When  first  presented  to  my  mind, 
I  was  somewhat  taken  with  it ;  but  very  little  reflection  entirely  con- 
vinced me  that  it  was  wrong  in  principle,  and  would  be  dangerous  in 
practice — the  precedent  might  be  inconvenient:  it  would  be  an  ingeni- 
ous expedient  to  elude  the  responsibility  which  properly  rests  on  our 
shoulders,  by  throwing  it  back  on  those  of  the  people.  I  know  it  is 
easy  to  ask  if  we  are  afraid  to  trust  the  people.  It  is  for  the  very 
protection  of  my  people,  that  I  will  not  consent  to  submit  the  validity 
of  their  rights  to  the  decision  of  other  people.  Sir,  the  very  idea  of  sub- 
mitting a  law  to  the  qualified  voters  of  the  stase,  is  subversive  of  the 
government  itself.  It  would  be  a  palpable  violation  of  the  spirit  of  that 
compact,  which,  after  so  much  toil  and  trouble,  was  adopted  as  a  com- 
promise, by  the  late  convention.  Yes,  sir,  a  compromise,  by  which  we 
of  the  east,  lost  much  and  gained  little.  But,  is  it  not  obvious  that  it 
would  be  surrendering  all  at  discretion  to  permit  the  qualified  voters  to 
decide  great  questions  of  interest  in  the  state  ?  In  the  graduation  of  poli- 
tical power,  it  is  known  that  the  numerical  weight  given  to  the  people  of 
the  east,  in  consideration  of  their  slave  property,  (and,  by  the-by,  for 
the  protection  principally  of  that  very  property,)  was  greater  than  that 
given  to  an  equal  number  in  the  west.  So  that  the  delegates  here  do  not 
represent  an  average  of  equal  numbers  of  voters.  But  this  scheme  of 
submission  would,  in  effect,  exactly  bring  upon  us  the  principles  of  that 
celebrated  white  basis,  against  which  we  struggled  so  earnestly  in  the 
late  convention. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  has  not  another  objection  to  this  plan  occurred 
to  you,  of  still  more  delicate  and  insuperable  character?  Suppose  it 
submitted ; — to  whom  will  you  submit  it  ?  Will  you  submit  it  to  those 
who  own  the  property,  or  to  those  who  do  not.^  Is  it  to  be  decided  by 
those  who  are  prominently — nay,  almost  exclusively,  interested  in  the 
subject,  or  by  those  who  have  little  or  no  interest  in  it?  These,  sir, 
are  grave  and  important  questions,  and  will  awaken  some  obvious  re- 
flections. There  are  but  two  modes  in  which  the  state  can  acquire 
title  to  these  post  nati,  or  possess  itself  of  the  property  of  the  private 
citizen.  One  is,  by  the  consent  of  the  owners — and  the  other,  which 
is  that  so  frequently  resorted  to  by  absolute  governments — is  force. 
If  a  measure  of  mere  force  is  to  be  resorted  to,  to  take  away  a  part  of 
our  property  without  our  consent,  like  banditti,  or  Carbonari,  why 
then  it  is  useless  to  consult  us,  or  institute  the  solemn  mockery  of  sub- 
mitting the  project  of  the  law  to  the  approbatio?!  of  the  people.  But, 


19 


ifour  voluntary  relinquishment  is  looked  to,  who  is  to  yield  the  assent  ?— 
those  who  now  own  the  property,  or  those  who  do  not?  Sir,  ifl  wished 
to  get  your  watch  from  you,  but  understood  that  consent  must  be  ob- 
tained, would  it  not  appenr  supremely  absurd,  that  this  consent  should 
be  left  to  a  third  person?  Sir,  the  approbation  of  any  such  scheme 
by  the  qualified  voters  at  the  polls,  could  convey  no  assent  of  the  real 
holders  of  the  property.  Sir,  is  it  to  be  submitted  to  the  people  of 
western  Virginia  inclusively,  whether  the  east  shall  surrender  her  slaves  ? 
My  brethren  of  the  west,  for  whom  I  feel  the  proper  fraternal  regard, 
as  members  of  the  common  family,  will  not,  I  am  sure,  regard  the  idea 
1  am  urging  as  disrespectful  to  them  :  it  certainly  is  not  so  designed ; 
and  they,  so  far  from  regarding  the  suggestion  of  their  having  com- 
paratively no  slave  property  among  them  as  an  unkind  imputation, 
will,  of  course,  appreciate  it  as  a  con)pllment ;  for  it  is  one  of  the  ad- 
vantages on  which  they  pride  themselves — and  they  possess  sympathy  and 
commiseration  for  those  who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  possess  them  they 
say.  What  then,  sir,  is  the  relative  condition  of  the  several  great  divisions 
of  our  state?  Where  is  the  slave  property  found?  In  whose  hands? 
Were  it  difiused  over  all  the  state  in  any  degree  approximating  to 
equality,  there  would  be  but  little  practical  injustice  in  referring  the 
question  of  its  confiscation  to  the  whole  state.  But,  sir,  in  truth,  the 
western  part  of  the  state  has  no  pecuniary  interest  in  this  matter. 
The  single  county  of  Halifax  alone, has  as  many  slaves,  within  a  frac- 
tion, as  the  whole  trans-Alleghany  country  together!  And  we  have 
many  other  counties  above  the  falls  of  our  great  watercourses,  which, 
singly,  contain  nearly  as  man}^  of  the  colored  population,  as  that 
quarter  of  our  state  collectively.  It  contains  15,000  slaves  out  of 
about  470,000;  not  one  out  of  thirty.  And  about  1,600  free  negroes 
out  of  47,000  ;  bearing  about  the  same  proportion.  And,  sir,  the  fine 
and  fertile  Valley  district,  does  not  compare  much  better,  with  the  two 
eastern  divisions.  And  are  the  qualified  voters  who  people  these 
regions  to  be  constituted  arbiters  to  decide  whether  we  shall  surren- 
der a  portion  of  our  property  or  not?  And  when  they  obviously  have 
no  interest  in  the  subject;  or  if  they  do  have,  (and  they  contend  that 
they  are  greatly  to  be  benefitted  by  the  liberation  of  our  slaves,)  it  is 
an  interest  diametrically  opposed  to  ours  ! 

And  yet,  sir,  the  gentleman  from  Campbell,  (Mr.  Rives)  has  inform- 
ed us,  that  in  his  opinion,  these  are  the  very  people  who  are  best  qua- 
lified to  decide  !  According  to  his  idea,  those  who  own  no  slaves  are 
the  very  people  to  decide  impartially,  whether  those  who  hold  them 
should  give  them  up  or  not!  And  what  is  still  stranger,  he  puts  it  on 
the  ground  that  they  are  perfectly  disinterested.  Yes,  sir ;  I  want 
your  watch,  and  I  leave  it  to  myself,  and  three  other  men  who  own 
no  watches,  to  say  whether  you  shall  not  give  up  your  watch  to  us. 
Sir,  without  feeling,  much  less  intending  to  express  any  unkind  feeling, 
or  want  of  respect  for  those  who  hold  these  doctrines,  I  must  pro- 
nounce the  doctrines  themselves  unsound,  dangerous,  and  revolution- 
ary. Were  we  once  to  admit  such  a  principle  as  this,  every  incentive 
to  industry  and  enterprise  would  cease  to  exist,  and  there  would 
remain  no  security  whatever  for  property.  Sir,  though  it  may  not  be 
carried  out  in  extent  so  far—in  principle  it  is  the  same  that  impelled  a 


^0 


particular  portion  of  the  people  of  ancient  Rome,  on  every  new  dis- 
turbance in  the  state,  to  cry  out  for  an  Agrarian  law.  It  is  the  same 
spirit  which  impelled  the  mob  through  the  dark  and  bloody  scenes  of 
the  French  revolution,  (I  of  course  do  not  allude  to  the  recent  one,) 
to  seize  on  all  the  property  they  could  find,  and  make  partition  of  the 
spoil.  The  wildest  views  of  the  disciples  of  Hunt,  and  the  ultra  re- 
formers of  England,  do  not  proceed  to  such  extremities  as  this. 

Mr.  Speaker,  while  on  this  subject,  I  will  call  your  attention,  and 
that  especially  of  the  western  delegation  on  this  floor,  to  the  promises 
and  assurances  held  out  to  us  of  the  east,  soon  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  and  by  more  than  one 
member  from  the  western  section  of  our  state,  that  the  subject  of  our 
colored  population  was  peculiarly  an  eastern  one — that  they  would  not 
interpose,  but  give  us  a  carte  blanche  to  prepare  what  measures  we 
pleased — and  they  who  have  no  immediate  interest  in  the  question, 
would  then  come  forward  and  assist  us  in  effecting  it.  They  told  us 
to  go  oh  and  work  out  a  plan  for  our  own  relief,  which  would  suit 
ourselves.  It  was  not  from  one  quarter  alone  that  these  declarations 
emanated — but  from  different  gentlemen,  whose  respectability  forbade 
that  their  sincerity  and  good  faith  should  be  distrusted.  The  sounds 
fell  upon  my  ear  like  soft,  sweet  music  in  the  stillness  of  night.  They 
came  as  the  harbingers  of  good  feeling  from  a  whole  region  of  coun- 
try, and  bespoke  kindness  and  sympathy  for  us:  and  I  trust  they  will 
fulfil  this  pledge  in  the  letter  and  the  spirit.  They  cannot,  surely, 
look  upon  this  as  an  eastern  measure,  because  proposed  by  a  member 
who  comes  from  a  divided  county  east  of  the  Ridge,  and  supported  by 
some  five  or  six  eastern  gentlemen,  out  of  the  whole  of  its  numerous 
delegation.  If  they  really  desire  to  subserve  the  views  of  the  east, 
they  will  go  with  the  great  body  of  the  east,  and  not  the  fragments 
which  have  flown  off  of  it.  And  if  the  west  really  deems  it  courteous 
or  just,  not  to  interpose  in  this  concern,  will  they  unite  in  a  vote  to 
submit  the  question  to  themselves  ?  Sir,  I  hope  that  no  such  submis- 
sion will  obtain  the  favorable  consideration  of  a  Virginia  assembly:  its 
effects  might  be  disastrous.  If  there  were  no  other,  the  country  would 
be  kept  in  a  state  of  feverish  excitement,  and  distracted  uncertainty, 
until  the  result  of  the  submission  could  be  ascertained.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  discussion  of  t!ie  question  at  the  cross  roads  and  at  the  hus- 
tings, publicly  and  privately,  would  soon  give  publicity  to  the  existence 
of  such  a  question  among  the  negroes  themselves,  and  the  conse- 
quences could  not,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  other  than  deleterious. 
And  at  last,  when  the  result  of  the  submission  comes,  and  that,  or  any 
measure  growing  out  of  it,  shall  go  the  length  of  depriving  the  people 
who  own  this  property,  of  any  portion  of  it,  without  their  own  con- 
sent, they  will  not  submit  to  it.  Sir,  I  assure  you,  coolly  and  dispas- 
sionately, as  my  sincere  conviction,  that  the  people  who  own  this 
property  will  not  submit  to  such  a  law — and  that  they  ought  not.  They 
would  hurl  from  their  stations  their  unfaithful  representatives  who  had 
contributed  to  bring  such  injustice  upon  them — and  if  their  successors 
could  effect  no  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  provisions,  the  people  would 
burst  into  atoms  the  bond  which  unites  our  state  as  one  political  com- 
munity— or  even  proceed  to  the  ultima  ratio,  if  nothing  else  would 


21 


succeed— a  result  which  I  pray  heaven  in  its  mere}',  to  avert  from  our 
land.  If  the  people  were  to  surrender  to  one  invasion  of  a  plain  right, 
other  exactions  might  soon  follow.  To  give  up  a  little,  would  only 
hold  out  an  invitation  to  demand  the  remainder. 

Mr.  Speaker,  in  the  course  of  tliis  discussion  many  things  haveheen 
said  on  both  sides,  the  expression  of  which  I  sincerely  regretted.  Not 
because  they  had  their  origin  in  unkind  or  improper  feelings,  but  be- 
cause, if  they  go  forth  literany  to  the  world,  they  may  exert  an  unfor- 
tunate influence,  and  lead  to  misconceptions  abroad,  of  the  dispositions 
and  motives  of  those  who  uttered  them,  I  beg  leave  to  advert  to  a  few 
of  those,  before  I  proceed  to  exhibit  the  statement  1  have  alluded  to, 
of  the  measures  I  consider  called  for  by  existing  emergencies.  My 
warm-hearted  and  worthy  friend  from  Rockbridge,  (Mr.  Moore,)  in 
the  ardor  of  debate,  allowed  himself  to  allude  to  the  late  glorious 
struggle  of  the  Poles  for  the  freedom  of  their  country, — and  the  course 
of  the  Parisians  in  their  celebrated  three  days  revolution,  in  glowing 
terms  of  approbation,  and  compared  the  cause  in  which  they  were  en- 
gaged with  that  which  incited  to  scenes  of  blood  and  horror  the  actors 
in  the  late  Southampton  massacre.  I  know,  sir,  that  the  gentleman 
from  Rockbridge  is  one  of  the  last  who  would  willingly  stand  as  an 
ally  by  the  side  of  such  incendiaries  as  Garrison  and  Walker — and  yet 
he  has  used  the  very  idea,  and  nearly  in  the  very  words,  which  is  so 
conspicuously  emblazoned  to  our  slaves  by  those  execrable  pamphle- 
teers. Surely  these  are  not  the  Uluminnii^  to  whom  the  gentleman 
would  look  for  that  'Might"  which,  he  says,  "  has  come  into  the  world," 
on  this  delicate  subject.  My  friend  from  Brunswick,  (Mr.  Gholson,) 
3^esterday  acted  on  an  idea,  wliich,  I  feared,  might  lead  to  a  misap- 
prehension of  the  grounds  on  which  we  (including  himself,)  rest  the 
defence  of  tlie  rights  we  assert.  In  an  eloquent  dissertation  on  the 
importance  of  securing  the  right  of  private  property,  he  exclaimed — 

"  Who  takes  that  froiii  me  on  which  hfe  subsists, 
"  Takes  hfeitseif!" 

A  sentiment  which  he  ascribed  to  "  the  great  Poet  of  Nature."  But 
my  friend  overlooked  the  fact,  that  Shakspeare  has  put  this  expression 
in  the  mouth  of  the  griping,  cold-hearted,  seared-feeling,  sordid  Shy- 
lock.  I  was  gratified  to  observe,  that  the  gentleman  subsequently 
essayed  a  warmer  and  more  generous  strain,  and  assumed  a  ground 
which  I  regard  as  much  more  important.  Sir,  it  is  not  so  much  the 
value  of  the  property  you  would  tear  from  us,  weighty  as  is  that  con- 
sideration, as  the  'principle  involved,  which  we  regard.  Our  people 
are  not  sordid  in  their  feelings,  or  calculating  in  their  habits,  when 
they  do  not  apprehend  wrong.  It  has  often  occurred,  in  the  revolu- 
tions of  the  commercial  world,  and  the  fluctuations  in  price,  to  which 
our  staple  agricultural  productions  are  exposed,  that  a  sudden  reduc- 
tion in  the  value  of  the  proceeds  of  the  labor  of  these  very  slaves — 
and  those  proceeds  constitute  the  value  of  the  slaves  themselves — has 
deprived  their  owners  of  half  their  usual  income.  But  who  has  heard 
a  complaint  from  them  on  that  account  ?  Generous  and  disinterested, 
they  had  rather  give  you  half  they  possess,  than  that  the  smallest  por- 
tion should  be  wrested  from  them  by  lawless  violence,  or  reckless  le- 


22 


gislation.  "Millions  for  defence,  but  not  a  cent  for  tribute,"  was  a 
noble  sentiment — one  which  did  honor  to  the  patriot  who  uttered  itj 
and  to  the  country  which  claimed  him.  It  is  no  otherwise  appropriate 
to  this  subject,  than  as  a  striking  expression  of  the  paramount  supe- 
riority of  importance,  of  principle,  over  mere  money. 

I  heard  also,  Mr.  Speaker,  with  regret,  unfavorable  opinions  of  our 
brethren  of  other  states,  expressed  perhaps  with  too  much  force,  and 
denunciations  indulged  in  entirely  too  gej-eral,  against  the  "yankees;" 
for  instance,  in  consequence  of  the  shameless  conduct  of  some  few 
miscreants  among  them,  who  have  endeavored,  by  incendiary  publica- 
tions, to  excite  our  slaves  to  insurrection.  Shall  we  talk  of  war  with 
our  sister  states,  because  a  Garrison  or  a  Walker  may  disgrace  their 
soil  f  I  am  sure  gentlemen  intended  to  confine  their  sweeping  denun- 
ciations to  the  infamous  individuals  alone  who  are  guilty,  and  who 
cannot  be  viewed  without  indignation  and  horror.  And  I  have  only 
adverted  to  them,  lest  they  might  give  rise  to  misapprehensions  abroad. 
Great  injustice  might  be  done  in  visiting  censure  on  whole  communi- 
ties, for  the  acts  of  a  few  misguided  fanatics,  or  vicious  incendiaries 
who  may  happen  to  be  among  them,  and  over  whose  conduct  neither 
government  nor  laws  can  exert  any  control.  We  have  here  in  old 
Virginia,  many,  whom  all  of  us  would  regret  to  see  erected  into  stan- 
dards by  which  Virginia  character  abroad  was  to  be  graduated  and 
determined, — many,  for  whose  conduct  it  would  be  unjust  in  the  ex- 
treme to  hold  our  people  collectively  responsible.  Every  community 
will  have  in  its  bosom  some  unworthy  and  disreputable  members. 
Even  in  that  little  band  of  disciples,  which  our  Savour  himself,  while 
on  earth,  selected  to  follow  him,  a  Judas  Iscariot  was  found.  I  have 
been  gratified  to  learn  that  the  intelligent  and  the  virtuous  in  the 
northern  states,  as  cordially  deprecate  and  condemn  the  excesses  of 
these  unprincipled  incendiaries — these  moral  Carbonari  among  them, 
as  we  can  do, — and  it  would  be  as  ungenerous  as  unjust  to  breathe 
out  an  indiscriminate  anathema  against  all.  For  several  years,  1  have 
remarked  with  interest  and  attention,  on  the  state  of  feeling  existing 
between  different  sections  of  our  common  country.  Strong  and  un- 
founded prejudices  certainly  have  existed  on  both  sides,  between  our 
northern  brethren  and  us.  But  I  am  happy  to  have  perceived  that 
they  are  gradually  subsiding,  as  we  acquire  a  more  intimate  know- 
ledge of  each  other  ;  and  it  is  certainly  the  duty  of  the  virtuous  and 
the  wise,  on  both  sides,  to  endeavour  to  repress  those  which  remain, 
rather  than  to  foment  and  infiame  them.  We  may  indulge  in  that 
"  national  vanity"  of  which  my  friend  spoke — we  may  be  as  patriotic 
as  we  please,  and  ardent  in  our  admiration  of  our  own  state,  its  insti- 
tutions, iis  manners,  and  its  people.  But  while  we  love  ourselves 
more,  we  need  not  appreciate  our  more  remote  brethren  less.  True 
charity  has  been  beautifully  assimilated  to  the  appearances  which  pre- 
sent themselves  when  a  stone  has  fallen  into  the  bosom  of  some  smooth 
and  tranquil  lake.  Of  those  numerous  concentric  circles  which  im- 
mediately rise  into  waves,  those  nearest  the  centre  are  certainly  the 
highest  and  strongest;  but  these  are  followed  by  ripple  after  ripple,  in 
more  extended  and  successive  undulations,  until  the  impression  is  dif- 
fused over  the  whole  expanse  of  the  waters.    For  myself,  I  delight  to 


23 


see  these  favorable  dispositions  cultivated.  Our  northern  brethren  no 
longer,  as  was  the  case  some  years  ago,  look  on  every  Virginia  slave- 
holder, as  identified  with  a  negro  driver  in  the  Mauritius,  who  forces 
them  to  labor  night  and  day,  with  scarcely  an  intermission,  and  keeps 
them  up  with  a  cart  whip  :  that  they  are  fed  on  cotton-seed,  or  for  the 
slightest  offence  cruelly  bastinandoed,  while  confined  naked  on  their 
backs,  with  their  eyes  exposed  to  a  scorching  sun^  as  the  Romans  for- 
merly punished  their  desperate  culprits.  They  have  found  out,  that  all 
these  are  mistakes;  and  that  public  sentiment  in  Virginia,  will  nottolerate 
the  cruel  or  improper  treatment  of  slaves  :  that  in  point  of  fact,  their 
condition  is  superior  to  that  of  the  peasantry  of  any  other  country,  in 
possessing  the  ordinary  comforts  of  life.  I  regard  them  myself,  as 
exempt  from  many  of  the  evils  incident  to  laboring  classes  in  other 
countries — They  are  well  fed  and  well  clothed — Famine,  which  reaches 
others,  is  never  allowed,  even  from  policy,  to  affect  them.  They  have 
no  care  on  their  minds  to  provide  a  subsistence,  and  are,  when  they 
have  good  masters,  1  believe  in  a  happy  condition.  And  in  this  light 
is  the  subject  now  generally  regarded  by  strangers  of  intelligence,  who 
never  condescend  to  take  their  opinions  from  the  miserable  effusions 
of  such  editors  as  have  been  alluded  to.  A  great  man}^  of  our  preju- 
dices against  them,  on  the  other  hand,  have  been  discovered  to  be  un- 
founded. We  have  learnt  that  it  is  not  fair  to  judge  of  a  whole  people 
from  the  specimens  exhibited  of  travelling  pedlars,  or  needy  adventu- 
rers. And  I  am  happy  in  expressing  it  as  my  opinion,  that  a  better 
state  of  feeling  between  us  is  growing  up  continually,  and  that  it  ought 
to  be  cherished. 

Mr.  Speaker,  in  reviewing  what  has  fallen  from  those  who  have  pre- 
ceded me  in  this  debate,  I  cannot  omit  to  notice  an  idea  of  the  gentle- 
man from  Campbell,  (Mr.  Rives  ;)  for,  I  cannot  help  regarding  its 
^  tendency  as  unfortunate.  In  taking  a  prophetic  vision  of  the  future 
destinies  of  Old  Virginia,  he  permitted  his  imagination  to  be  warmed, 
until  it  became  disturbed  by  a  phantom  of  most  horrible  import — when 
he  looked  forward  to  the  day  when  this  hall  should  be  occupied  by  a 
negro  legislature  !  Sir,  did  the  gentleman  allow  his  heated  fancy  to 
roam  so  wildly  into  the  regions  of  romance,  as  really  to  suppose,  that 
such  an  event  was  within  the  range — not  of  probabilities — but  even  of 
possibilities?  I  felt,  sir,  when  I  heard  the  suggestion,  an  involuntary 
shudder;  and  even  now,  I  can  with  difficulty  divest  m3/self  of  the  dreadful 
impression  it  made  on  my  mind  at  the  moment.  Mr.  Speaker,  I  looked 
at  you  when  this  heart-chilling  prophecy  was  pronounced, — I  then 
looked  on  this  assembl}^  of  "reverend,  grave,  and  potent  segniors," 
as  they  were  yesterday  termed,  in  that  round  of  compliments  which 
they  received. — I  looked  at  the  unusual  concourse  of  respectable  and 
intelligent  visiters  who  crowded  your  gallery  and  lobby  ; — And  last, 
but  not  least,  sir,  I  looked  on  that  fair  portion  of  our  auditory,  whose 
presence  here  attests  their  deep  interest  in  these  proceedings — on  those 
fair  ones,  who  are  ever  nearest  to  our  feelings,  and  dearest  to  our 
hearts,  when  scenes  of  danger  are  talked  of.  Sir,  with  what  feelings 
did  you  reflect  on  the  spectacle,  when  you  imagined  to  yourself  a  knot- 
ty-pated,  sable  African,  usurping  the  chair,  which  you  now  occupy, 
and  presiding  over  the  deliberations  of  a  negro  assembly  ?  Sir.  I  for- 


\ 


24 

bear  to  carry  out  the  sombre  picture.  Better  would  it  have  been— 
far  less  grating  to  our  feelings,  or  dreac^ful  to  our  inriaginations — for 
the  gentleman,  while  wrapt  in  the  seraphic  spirit,  to  have  looked  still 
further  through  the  vista  of  future  time,  until  in  the  language  in  which 
one  of  the  ancient  prophets  describes  a  desolated  city — "the  grass  shall 
be  seen  growing  in  the  streets,  and  the  foxes  peeping  from  the  holes." 
Better,  sir,  that  he  sliould  have  looked  even  still  farther — to  the  time 
when  the  very  existence  of  the  city  of  Richmond,  shall  have  become 
matter  of  history,  with  that  of  Balbec,  Persepolis,  and  Palmyra. — 
When  travellers  shall  visit  the  remaining  ruins  on  these  romantic  hills, 
and  another  Volney  shall  be  seated  on  some  broken  fragment  of  one 
of  those  beautiful  pillars,  which  now  adorn  and  support  this  splendid 
structure,  amidst  the  decaying  rubbish  of  this  capitol,  indulging  inge- 
nious speculations  as  to  whether  the  temple  of  some  heathen  God- — or 
the  state  house  of  some  civilized  race,  had  once  occupied  the  spot — 
or,  if  history  had  not  yet  become  quite  so  dim — inditing  in  his  jour- 
nal, that  he  was  in  a  land  where  there  existed  some  fabled  accounts- 
some  obscure  traditions  of  one  Washington^  who  was  said  once  to  have 
lived  in  this  then  desolated  wilderness,  to  have  been  "  first  in  peace, 
first  in  war,  and  first  in  the  hearts'*  of  this  ancient  people — to  have 
"filled  the  measure  of  his  country's  glory,"  and  to  have  "read  his 
history  in  a  nation's  eyes."  Perhaps,  sir,  in  the  portrait,  you  could 
see  some  curious  Antiquary,  who  had  traversed  the  Atlantic  to  hunt 
up  amidst  those  ruins,  some  small  piece  of  the  marble  which  now  forms 
a  part  of  that  noble  statue  in  your  vestibule,  raised  to  the  memory  of 
Virginia's  proudest  son,  and  preserving  it  as  a  precious  relic  with  all 
the  consecrated  solicitude  and  devotions  of  catholic  superstition.  Sir, 
I  had  rather,  in  fine,  that  the  gentleman  had  extended  his  wrapt  vision 
even  to  that  remotest  of  all  limes— when 

"  This  great  globe  itself, 
"Yea,  all  Avliich  it  inherit  shall  dissolve. 
"  And  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision, 
"Leave  net  a  Avreck  behind." 

Sir,  it  was  with  unqualified  astonishment,  that  1  heard  any  supposi- 
tion advanced  of  ihe  possibility  of  a  successful  insurrection  by  our  co- 
lored population.  It  is  true,  there  has  been  great  excitement,  and 
much  unpleasant  apprehension  of  danger.  I  am  happy  to  have  learned 
that  all  this  is  to  a  considerable  extent  subsiding.  It  demonstrates 
certainly,  however,  the  propriety,  the  necessity  of  our  adopting  some 
measure  to  re-assure  public  confidence  ;  and  prevent  as  far  as  practi- 
cable the  recurrence  of  scenes  similar  to  those  so  often  alluded  to.  I 
certainly  am  not  without  my  fears.  But  not  the  craven  fear  I  trust; 
but  that  which  dictates  the  expediency  of  looking  guardedly  at  every 
thing  before  us,  so  as  to  be  best  prepared  to  meet,  or  to  ward  off,  ap- 
proaching danger.  I  do  believe,  and  such  must  be  the  deliberate 
judgment  of  every  reflecting  man,  that  unless  something  is  done  in 
time  to  obviate  it,  the  day  must  arrive  when  scenes  of  inconceivable 
horror  must  inevitably  occur,  and  one  of  these  two  races  of  human 
beings,  will  have  their  throats  cut  by  the  other.  It  is  impossible  that 
things  can  always  continue  to  flow  on  in  their  present  current,  without 
some  radical  change  in  our  policy  towards  ihe  African  caste.  This 


25 


consequence  must  result,  unless  something  can  be  done  to  remove  or 
mitigate  the  tremendous  evil. 

But  when  allusions  have  heretofore  been  made  to  this  horrible  ca- 
tastrophe, did  it  enter  into  the  imagination  of  any  body,  that  ^Ae  whites 
were  to  be  the  ultimate  victims? — that  any  successful  general  conspi- 
racy ever  could  occur?  No,  sir;  I  beg  you  to  understand,  that  how- 
ever dreadful  either  alternative  would  be,  however  anxious,  however 
painfully  solicitous  we  may  be,  to  provide  some  efficient  measure  of 
prevention,  it  is  not  founded  on  the  supposition,  by  a  human  being  in 
the  region  more  immediately  concerned,  that  our  negroes  are  ever  to 
exchange  conditions  with  us,  or  make  laws  for  a  subjugated  province. 
The  real  extent  of  the  danger — and  God  knows  that  is  bad  enough  ! — 
is,  that  in  insulated  neighborhoods,  a  few  misguided  fanatics,  like  Nat 
Turner — or  reckless  infatuated  desperadoes,  like  his  followers,  in  total 
ignorance  of  the  extent  of  such  an  enterprise,  or  of  the  means  neces- 
sary to  accomplish  it,  may,  in  moments  of  sudden  excitement,  make 
desperate  attempts,  and  commence  partial  excesses  of  pillage  and  mas- 
sacre. Much  mischief — (yes,  sir,  as  important  to  the  wretched  indivi- 
duals assailed,  as  if  all  the  world  was  involved,) — much  injury  might  be 
inflicted,  before  the  insurgents  could  be  met  with  and  arrested.  But,  so 
far  l>om  their  overwhelming  the  whites,  conquering  the  country,  over- 
turning our  political  dynasty,  and  usurping  the  seats  of  legislation, 
the  very  act  of  their  imbodying,  would  he  the  immediate  signal  for  their 
annihilation.  Sir,  1  assure  you,  that  whatever  little  of  military  infor- 
mation I  may  possess,  confirms  and  corroborates  this  obvious  view  of 
the  subject.  The  only  difficulty  consists  m  finding  them — The  danger 
to  be  apprehended  is  entirely  of  a  temporary  character,  and  while  they 
advance  unseen  and  unopposed.  The  idea  of  a  military  force  invad- 
ing and  conquering  any  country,  without  uniting  in  a  mass,  or  by 
avoiding  the  opposing  force  of  the  invaded,  would  be  ridiculous.  In 
truth,  there  was  never  a  single  moment,  from  the  commencement,  to 
the  termination,  of  this  celebrated  Southampton  insurrection,  in  which 
ten  resolute,  well  armed  men,  could  not  easily  have  put  the  whole 
down.  With  the  relative  moral,  intellectual  and  scientific  advantages 
which  we  possess,  the  numerical  superiority  of  our  slaves  would  have 
to  become  at  least  twenty  to  one,  before  any  probable  prospect  could 
exist,  of  a  successful  general  rebellion.  Should  the  disproportion  ever 
become  very  great,  the  God  of  Heaven  who  governs  the  universe,  only 
knows  what  might  happen.  The  only  serious  apprehension  is,  that 
now  and  then — perhaps  after  intervals  of  many  ye^rs— partial  attempts 
at  local  insurrection  may  be  made,  much  mischief  may  be  done  in  small 
districts,  until,  I  repeat  it,  one  or  the  otlier  party  will  be  exterminated. 
Another  attempt  soon  after  the  recent  one,  would,  in  my  judgment, 
lead  the  way  to  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  all  the  blacks,  whether 
concerned  in  it  or  not.  I  assure  you,  sir,  that  at  the  close  of  that 
which  has  passed,  and  when  the  public  mind  was  excited  almost  to 
frenzy,  by  seeing  the  mangled  corpses  of  helpless  females  and  unof- 
fending infants  devoured  by  dogs  and  vultures  before  interment  could 
be  effected,  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  at  the  hazard  of 
personal  popularity  and  esteem,  that  the  coolest  and  most  judicious 
among  us  could  exert  an  influence  sufficient  to  restrain  an  indiscrimi- 
4 


26 


nate  slaughter  of  tlie  blacks  wlio  were  suspected.  Sir,  a  few  more 
such  efforts— and  the  whole  race  will  be  swept  from  among  us.  Who 
would  willingly  behold  such  a  spectacle?  But,  sir,  does  the  belief  that 
it  will  be  the  blacks  themselves,  and  not  the  whites  who  must  eventually 
fall  in  such  a  struggle,  constitute  any  reason  for  our  remitting  all  our 
exertions  to  avert  it? — Surely  not. 

Sir,  while  I  cannot  concur  in  the  bold  experiment  of  the  gentleman 
from  Albemarle,  and  am  not  willing  to  take  by  lawless  force,  or  by 
unconstitutional  legislation,  the  property  of  a  single  citizen,  I  do  most 
heartily  agree  with  him  in  the  conviction,  that  prudence  and  policy — 
that  every  consideration  held  dear  and  valuable  to  man,  require  that 
something  should  be  done  to  stay  this  onward  evil  in  its  course.  I  am 
sensible,  sir,  that  the  house  must  already  be  fatigued,  notwithstanding 
its  courteous  and  gratifying  attention  to  me  ;  and  I  will  immediately 
proceed  to  a  consideration  of  the  facts  and  statistics,  from  which /infer 
not  only  tile  necessity  of  doing  something,  but  the  practicability  of 
doing  it,  and  that  without  the  violation  of  a  single  principle,  which  at 
the  outset,  I  assumed  as  axiomatic. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  1  have  to  invite  the  attention  of  the  house  to  some 
statistical  views  of  this  subject,  which  1  deem  very  important.  I  am 
not  insensible  to  the  difficulty  of  rendering  any  tabular  statements — 
heavy  statistical  documents — interesting  to  an  auditory.  And  1  do  not 
intend  to  weary  you  by  reading  over,  in  unmeaning  succession,  census 
returns,  or  other  collections  of  similar  materials,  which  are  accessible 
to  all  of  us,  and  which  all  of  us  have  often  examined.  We  may  have 
perused  repeatedly,  however,  in  a  general  manner,  such  documents  as 
those  from  which  I  derive  the  information  I  wish  to  exhibit,  without 
having  our  attentions  directed  to  particular  results,  bearing  on  given 
questions,  not  pre-supposed.  My  object  in  recurring  to  these  tables, 
is  to  point  out  to  you  some  practical  views,  bearing  immediately  on 
this  question,  to  which,  in  previous  examinations,  your  attentions  may 
not  have  been  drawn.  The  time,  sir,  consumed  in  looking  over  them, 
may  not  be  altogether  unprofitably  employed  ;  for  the  results  which  they 
will  be  found  to  exhibit,  are  really  astounding  and  appalling — and 
such  as  will  startle  and  dismay  every  true  patriot.  They  will  shew 
what  consequences  are  likely  to  occur,  if  we  neglect  to  adopt,  in  time, 
some  efficient  measure  to  stay  the  alarming  progressive  increase  of  our 
colored  population.  The  statistics  I  design  to  present  you,  will,  I 
think,  shew  not  only  that  something  must  be  done,  but,  sir,  I  assure 
you  with  delight,  that  they  do  more — they  demonstrate  that  something 
can  be  done,  and  they  shew  you  how  you  may  do  it.  They  indicate, 
if  I  am  not  over  sanguine,  the  practicability  of  a  plan  of  preventing 
the  future  accumulation  of  this  population,  while  the  whites  shall  be 
doubling  their  numbers,  on  principles  beneficial  to  the  owners  of  the 
property,  and  happy  for  the  country.  Let  us  first  ascertain  the  neces- 
sity of  doing  any  thing,  before  we  look  around  for  the  means. 

The  state  of  Virginia  contains  by  the  last  census,  less  than  one-fif- 
teenth part  of  the  whole  white  population  of  the  United  States  ; 

It  contains  more  than  one-seventh  of  the/ree  negroes; 

And  it  possesses  between  a  fourth  and  a  fifth,  of  all  the  slaves  in 
the  union. 


27 


Virginia  has  a  greater  number  of  slaves  than  any  other  state  in  the 
union — and  more,  than  Lonisiann,  Mississippi,  Alabama  and  Ten- 
iiessee,  all  put  together;  and  more  than  four  times  as  many  as  either 
of  ihem.  South  Carolina  and  Louisiana  are  tlie  onl}'  states  in  which 
the  slaves  are  more  numerous  tlian  the  white  population;  and  Virgi- 
nia has  more  slaves,  without  estimating  her  great  and  unfortunate  dis- 
proportion of  free  persons  of  color,  than  both  these  states  put  together. 
Nay,  sir,  one  half  of  the  state — that  which  lies  on  the  east  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  of  mountains,  itself  contains  nearly  as  many.  The  whole  of 
Virginia  taken  collectively,  it  is  true,  contains  a  numerical  preponde- 
rance—one,  however,  becoming  less  and  less  everyday — of  over 
hlack  population  ;  but  when  we  regard  the  great  divisions  of  the  state, 
how  will  it  stand  then  ? 

Virginia  contains  694,439  whites,  469,724  slaves,  and  47,103  free 
persons  of  color. 

But  how  are  these  aggregates  distributed  ?  In  the  eastern  half  of 
Virginia — that  which  lies  between  the  Bhie  Ridge  and  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  there  are  375,935  whites — 416,350  slaves,  and  40,763  free 
negroes. 

And  while  the  western  half  of  the  state  contains  318,504  white  inha- 
bitants, the  trans-Alleghany  section  of  the  state  contains  only  about 
15,000  slaves  and  1,600  free  negroes — and  the  Valley  district,  between 
the  Alleghany  and  the  Blue  Ridge,  but  38,443  slaves  and  4,685  free 
negroes.  So  thai  an  enormous  numerical  disproportion  of  the  black 
populatioji  of  the  state,  rests  on  eastern  Virginia.  In  truth,  as  I  had 
occasion  before  to  intimate,  for  a  different  purpose,  many  of  our  coun- 
ties in  the  east  contain  nearly  as  many  slaves  and  free  negroes,  as  the 
entire  extreme  western  division  of  the  state.  Now,  sir,  for  all  prac- 
tical purposes,  it  is  proper  to  confine  our  estimates  exclusively  to  that 
portion  of  Virginia  which  lies  belov/  her  range  of  mountains.  Whe- 
ther protection  to  us,  or  injury  to  themselves  be  regarded,  the  western 
region,  though  a  portion  of  the  same  state,  can  have  no  more  connec- 
tion with  this  aspect  of  the  question,  than  if  it  did  not  constitute  a 
part  of  the  slate.  And  it  vyould  be  just  as  discreet  to  look  to  Mary- 
land, North  Carolina,  or  to  Ohio  itself,  where  there  are  no  slaves,  and 
derive  an  aggregate  proportion  of  the  different  populations  from  all 
these  collectively,  as  to  enumerate  in  the  estimate,  that  portion  of  our  own 
state,  which  is  equally  removed  from  the  reach  of  danger  from  our 
slaves,  or  the  possibility  of  aiding  us,  if  necessit}^  should  ever  require  it. 

The  annual  increase  of  the  white  population  of  Virginia,  taken  from 
a  long  series  of  preceding  years,  is  about  one  and  a  half  per  cent., 
while  that  of  the  free  negroes  has  been,  in  the  same  period,  two  and 
three-fourths  per  cent.  The  actual  increase  of  our  slaves  has  only 
been  one  per  cent.  This,  however,  has  obviously  resulted  from  the 
regular  removal  of  a  large  number  of  the  latter,  by  sales  to  the  south- 
ern states — a  drain  which,  from  present  indications,  is  about  to  be 
greatly  diminished,  or  entirely  cut  off  from  us  by  legislative  interdic- 
tions on  their  part.  The  disproportion  of  increase,  too,  it  will  be  re- 
marked, (for  these  averages  of  increase  are  taken  from  the  whole  state 
together,)  is  much  greater  in  eastern  Virginia  than  in  its  western  divi- 
sion.   The  average  of  increase,  of  all  classes  of  population,  in  the 


28 


United  States  generally,  exceeds  three  per  cent.  Let  us  take  a  retro- 
spect now,  sir,  of  our  condition  some  years  ago  ;  and  then  extend  our 
view  to  what  it  must  inevitably  become,  sliould  no  measures  in  the 
mean  time  be  adopted  to  obviate  it,  witliin  a  few  years  hence. 

Forty  years  ago,  there  were,  in  eastern  Virginia,  above  25,000 
more  white  people  than  slaves  and  free  persons  of  color  together. — 
Now,  there  are  above  81,000  more  blacks  than  whites — exhibiting 
within  that  short  period,  notwithstanding,  too,  the  constant  drain  of 
our  slaves  during  the  whole  time,  an  actual  gain  of  the  African  race 
upon  us,  in  this  half  of  the  state,  of  upwards  of  106,000!  ! 

And  what,  sir,  on  the  same  principles  of  calculation,  is  to  be  our 
relative  condition  forty  yeais  hence,  should  no  successful  effort  be  made 
to  arrest  the  present  course  of  things  ? 

The  ratio  of  increase  of  whites,  it  will  be  seen  from  the  regular  cen- 
sus during  the  last  forty  years,  has  been  fifty-one  per  cent.,  while  that 
of  the  blacks,  bond  and  free  together,  has  been  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  per  cent !  !  A  comparison  of  the  returns  from  the  year  1790  to  this 
time,  will  indicate  this  result,  with  mathematical  precision  and  cer- 
tainty, and  it  is  a  striking  fact.  Now,  add  to  the  present  excess  of 
black  population,  81,078,  only  ihe  same  increase  for  the  next  forty 
years,  which  has  occurred  during  the  preceding  forty  years,  to  wit, 
106,176,  and  you  have  187,254.  And,  discarding  from  considera- 
tion, that  this  progressive  increase  will  be  in  a  geometrical,  and  not 
an  arithmetical  ratio,  but  making  only  a  slight  allowance  for  the  effect 
to.  be  produced  by  the  occlusion  of  the  western  markets,  and  you  ar- 
rive at  the  result,  that  in  the  eastern  section  of  Virginia  alone,  there 
will,  within  the  next  forty  years,  be  in  round  numbers,  200,000  more 
black  inhabitants  than  white  ones.  The  commonwealth  of  Virginia 
has  at  this  time,  within  a  small  fraction,  four  times  as  many  free  ne- 
groes, as  she  had  forty  years  ago — and  nearly  twice  as  many  slaves-— 
while  she  has  only  about  fifty  per  cent.,  on  her  then  white  population. 

Forty  years  ago,  there  were  in  the  whole  United  States,  but  697,697 
slaves;  while  now  there  are  in  Virginia  alone,  469,724,  besides  her 
free  negroes. 

Sir,  these  results  are  astounding.  They  are  not  the  vagaries  of  a 
heated  imagination — but  conclusions  inferable  from  plain  arithmetical 
calculations,  founded  on  established  data,  and  in  which,  unfortunately, 
there  can  be  no  mistake.  If  the  disproportions  I  have  pointed  out, 
continue  to  advance,  as  all  former  experience  shows  they  must  do,  un- 
less the  current  is  arrested — what,  I  repeat  it,  will  be  the  condition  of 
our  slate  forty  years  hence  ?  Mr.  Speaker,  the  gloomy  forebodings  to 
which  these  reflections  point,  are  not  likely  to  be  realized  in  your  day 
or  mine.  We  shall,  no  doubt,  have  been  swept  from  the  scene  of  ac- 
tion. But,  sir,  it  is  the  duty  of  good  parents  to  look  to  the  welfare  of 
their  children.  The  state  ought  to  legislate,  not  for  ourselves  alone, 
but  for  posterity.  Any  course  of  events  tending  to  evil,  should,  if 
possible,  be  arrested  in  lime.  If  all  that  is  desirable  cannot  be  accom- 
plished at  once,  let  us  at  least  do  what  we  can.  It  is  the  duty — the 
imperative  duty — of  every  wise  and  good  man  in  the  slate,  however 
humble,  to  exert  his  invention  to  the  utmost,  and  contribute  his  mite, 
however  small  it  may  be,  towards  the  consummation  of  some  expedi- 


-29 


ent,  to  avert  the  fearful  consequences  which  are  impending  over  us. 

Rome,"  sir,  **  was  not  built  in  a  day.''  And  let  us  not  undertake  it, 
with  the  short-lived  fervor  of  enthusiasts,  who  would  expect  to  see  it 
rise  at  our  bidding,  with  magic  celerity,  and  who  would  abandon  the 
effort  on  encountering  the  first  difficulty.  Let  us  rather  advance 
guardedly  with  our  means  ;  and,  like  children  beginning  to  walk,  ven- 
ture short  steps  at  first,  until  our  strength  increases.  Laborious  and 
patient  perseverance  is  all-essential  to  success. 

Let  us  look  again  at  our  statistics,  and  see  if  they  will  admit  of  no 
expedient,  calculated  to  counteract  the  fearful  conclusion  to  which  they 
seem  otherwise  unerringly  to  point. 

The  annual  increase  of  the  slaves  in  Virginia,  may  be  assumed  at  an 
average  of  4,500 

And  that  of  our  free  colored  population  at  1,100 

Making  an  annual  aggregate  increase  of  both,  of  5,600 
There  are  no  fair  principles  of  calculation  which  can  be  applied  to 
our  previous  history,  or  to  the  actual  returns  of  our  census,  whether  in- 
cluding short  or  more  extending  periods  of  time,  which  will  not,  I 
think,  indicate  a  ratio  of  increase,  of  the  whole  African  race  in  Vir- 
ginia, of  less  than  6,000  a  year.  By  a  removal  then  of  6,000  annu- 
ally from  the  territory  of  Virginia,  the  capital  stock  would  at  the  least 
be  kept  stationary,  if  not  reduced — while  our  white  population  would 
be  increasing  at  an  accelerated  pace.  The  whole  population  of  the 
United  States,  it  has  been  long  ascertained,  duplicates  in  every  period 
of  25  years.  These  periods  of  duplication,  I  know,  occasionally  vary, 
and  will  become  successively  longer  and  longer  protracted.  The  his- 
tory, in  this  respect,  of  all  newl^^-settled  countries  in  the  world,  has 
been  the  same.  The  tide  of  increasing  population,  rushes  in  more 
rapidly  at  first,  and  as  tfie  opened  space  becomes  gradually  filled,  it 
flows  in  more  smoothly  and  slowly.  There  has  as  yet,  however,  been 
scarcely  a  perceptible  abatement  in  the  increase  of  the  population  of 
America.  But  say  that  the  white  population  of  Virginia  would  not 
double  itself  until  the  expiration  of  30  years,  or  35  years,  or  even  40 
years,  sir,  if  you  please.  What,  then,  would  be  the  situation  of  Vir- 
ginia at  the  end  of  these  forty  years,  in  comparison  with  what  I  have 
shewn  it  will  be,  if  nothing  to  prevent  it  is  accomplished  ?  a  white 
population  more  than  double  that  of  the  blacks,  having  attained  an 
advance,  which,  by  the  augmentation  of  the  capital  stock,  would  for- 
ever put  any  increase  of  the  blacks  below  their  reach,  and  dissipate 
our  danger,  dispel  our  apprehensions,  and  greatly  diminish  most  of 
the  embarrassments  and  evils  attendant  on  slavery.  This,  sir,  would 
be  the  result,  even  if  the  process  of  amotion  was  then  stoppedi  forever. 
But  why  should  it  be  ?  Let  us  look  at  this  calculation  in  another  light. 

By  the  annual  deportation  of  6,000  a  year  from  our  shores, — com- 
mencing, of  course,  with  our  free  persons  of  color — a  polic}^  which 
every  consideration  of  prudence,  humanity,  and  interest  would  unite 
in  recommending — within  ten  years  there  would  not  be  left  one  single 
free  negro  in  Virginia.  Sir,  in  making  this  computation,  I  have  in- 
cluded in  the  calculation,  the  greatest  rate  of  increase  of  those  who 
would  remain  among  us,  while  this  gradual  reduction  would  be  going 


30 


on ;  and  I  have  entirely  excluded  from  consideration,  the  great  ad- 
vantages in  hastening  the  time  when  al!  would  be  transported,  which 
would  result  from  adopting  the  policy — as  any  law  for  that  object 
would  certainly  provide — of  selecting,  in  the  first  instance,  particular- 
ages  and  descriptions  of  these  people,  who  would  be  more  likely  to 
increase  than  those  who  were  suffered  to  remain  among  us.  Those, 
for  instance,  of  both  sexes,  who  are  just  attaining  maturity,  coidd  be 
deported,  before  families  had  commenced  springing  up  around  them. 
And  those  who  had  passed  a  particular  age,  need  not  be  removed  at 
all,  except  as  a  favor  in  particular  instances  where  they  desired  it,  in 
order  to  follow  relatives  or  connexions,  and  had  not  the  means  of  re- 
moving themselves.  Nor  have  I,  sir,  made  any  allowance  whatever, 
for  the  great  numbers  who,  no  doubt,  in  the  mean  time,  and  especially 
if  a  law  for  their  compulsory  deportation  shall  be  enacted,  will  volun- 
tarily, and  on  their  own  means,  go  off  to  other  parts  of  the  world. — 
Sir,  that  select  committee  to  whom  this  whole  subject  has  been  re- 
ferred, are  especially  charged  with  the  duty  of  revising  all  our  laws 
on  the  subject  of  our  colored  population.  Regulations  of  police, 
much  more  rigorous  than  any  heretofore  existing  towards  our  free 
negroes,  and  which  will  materially  abridge  their  present  privileges, 
are  imperiously  called  for  by  existing  circumstances,  and  will,  no 
doubt,  be  adopted.  Recent  events,  without  any  change  in  the  laws, 
have  already  rendered  their  abode  among  us  much  less  comfortable 
and  desirable  to  them,  than  formerly.  These  causes  will,  no  doubt, 
greatly  add  to  the  number  of  voluntary  removals.  Nor  have  I,  in 
estimating  the  advances  of  white  population,  adverted  to  the  obvious 
consideration,  that  the  vacuum  produced  by  the  withdrawal  of  portions 
of  our  colored  population,  would  soon  be  filled  again  by  emigrants  of 
our  own  color,  from  other  quarters  of  the  world.  In  ten  years  then, 
under  the  most  disadvantageous  alternatives  of  calculation,  at  6,000 
a  year,  all  the  free  negroes  in  Virginia  would  be  removed  ;  and  in 
doing  that,  the  effect  would  also  be  produced  of  keeping  down  to  a 
stationary  point,  if  not  reducing  it,  the  aggregate  number  of  both 
classes  of  our  black  population.  Before  I  proceed  to  inquire  into 
what  ulterior  measures  it  may  be  wise  for  us  to  adopt,  after  this  re- 
moval of  the  free  persons  of  color  shall  have  been  effected,  it  will  be 
well  for  us  to  examine  into  the  ways  and  means  at  our  command,  to 
remove  this  6,000  a  year.  However  desirable,  it  would  be  useless  to 
attempt  it,  if  we  have  not  the  means  to  effect  it.  We  should  not  pro- 
ceed like  the  foolish  man  in  the  scriptures,  who  undertook  to  build  a 
house  without  counting  the  cost.  This  is  the  first  consideration: — 
What  sum,  then,  will  it  take  to  transport  this  number  annually,  to  the 
western  coast  of  Africa,  w  hich  I  shall  assume,  for  the  present,  as  the 
point  of  deportation?  1  recollect  to  have  seen  a  speed),  delivered  by 
Mr.  Clay,  in  1826,  before  the  American  Colonization  Society,  in  which 
he  stated,  that  from  numerous  actual  experiments  previously  made,  it 
had  been  ascertained,  tliat  emigrants  from  the  United  States  could  be 
transported  to  Liberia,  for  $20  a  head.  Since  then,  I  have  seen  differ- 
ent annual  reports  from  that  society;  and,  in  the  last  which  I  have 
read,  I  think  the  cost  of  transportation  is  stated  at  $23  each.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  Colonization  Society  has  had  to  encounter  every 


31 


disadvantage  calculated  to  increase  its  expenditures.  The  enterprise 
has  been  in  a  state  of  infancy — im matured  in  its  action — and  with  very 
limited  resources.  It  has  had  to  charter  vessels  ;  these  would  remain, 
sometimes,  in  port  a  long  time  on  expenses,  before  a  full  cargo  of  emi- 
grants could  be  collected.  Sometimes  a  cargo  incomplete  in  numbers, 
had  to  be  shipped;  and  the  freiglit  per  head,  of  course,  would  be 
higher.  Were  the  stale  to  undertake  the  transportation  of  a  class  of 
its  inhabitants,  on  a  more  extended  scale,  the  expenses  would,  no  doubt, 
be  diminished,  b}^  many  increased  facilities.  Such  is,  certainly,  the 
ordinary  eifect  of  enlarging  operations.  I  have  heard  the  idea  sug- 
gested, of  the  state  purchasing  ships,  and  keeping  them  regularly  em- 
ployed in  effecting  this  transportation.  This,  and  other  judicious  regu- 
lations, would,  no  doubt,  greatly  diminish  the  cost  on  each  individual 
removal.  And  should  the  plan  be  extended,  by  authorizing  return 
cargoes  of  the  various  productions  of  that  coast,  (most  of  which  are 
valuable  in  our  markets)  by  the  vessels  so  employed,  a  still  greater 
reduction  in  the  cost  of  transportation,  might  probably  be  effected. 
But  let  the  calculation  assume  its  most  disadvantageous  form,  and  say 
that  ^23  33  cents  per  head,  is  to  be  considered  the  necessary  expense 
of  removing  tliese  people  to  Africa.  I  take  it  for  granted,  that  no  person 
has  conceived  the  idea^  that  those  among  them  who  possess  no  property 
' — who  have  neither  the  means  of  transporting  themselves,  nor  of  provid- 
ing the  necessary  support  immediately  on  tlieir  arrival,  are  to  be  shipped 
ofi*  by  the  state,  and  cast  on  the  shores  of  a  distant  region  of  the  earth, 
to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts — or  what  would  be  infinitely  worse,  to 
perish  by  famine.  No,  sir:  I  presume  that  some  temporary  supply 
to  emigrants  of  this  description,  to  support  them  immediately  on  their 
arrival,  and  until  they  could  be  able  to  make  a  support  for  themselves, 
is  what  would  be  required  by  humanity,  approved  by  every  wise  legis- 
lator, and  is  expected  by  the  country.  Wiiat  additional  expenditure 
would  this  temporary  provision  involve?  By  recurring  to  the  same 
source  of  information,  I  find  that  the  Colonization  Society  has  estimated 
the  additional  expense  for  this  purpose,  at  $10  per  head.  Indeed,  I 
think  that  oflers  have  been  made  for  $33  33  cents  each,  to  take  any 
number  of  emigrants,  transport  them  to  Liberia,  and  assume  the  re- 
sponsibility of  all  their  subsequent  necessary  support.  I  have  no 
doubt  the  sum  of  $10  would  be  ample.  This  would  be  no  first  at- 
tempt to  settle  a  wild  and  unknown  country,  where  the  adventurers 
would  have  to  wander  in  the  forest,  and  subsist  on  acorns  until  they 
could  fell  and  reclaim  it.  That  society,  to  which  I  have  so  often  al- 
luded, has  paved  the  way  for  us.  The  country  is  an  extremely  fertile 
one- — abounding  in  natural  resources — and  with  a  climate  which,  while 
it  is  adapted  to  the  African  constitution,  needs  no  recurrence  of  par- 
ticular seasons  for  raising  crops.  No,  sir:  the  spring,  the  summer, 
the  autumn,  and  the  winter,  are  all,  I  understand,  for  agricultural 
purposes,  the  same.  Whenever  the  ground  is  sufficiently  moistened 
by  rain,  you  may  plant.  In  a  few  weeks  the  crops  begin  to  ripen. 
One  n"^n  may  be  seeding  and  another  reaping  his  crop  at  the  same 
time,  in  co-terminous  fields.  The  means  of  subsistence  are,  conse- 
quently, easily  and  speedily  obtained :  and  I  repeat,  then,  that  $10 
would  be  an  ample  provision  for  temporary  support.    The  aggregate 


m 


sum  per  head — $33  33  cents,  multiplied  by  6,000,  the  number  pro* 
posed  to  be  annually  deported,  gives  you  the  sum  of  $200,000,  a& 
that  which  will  be  required  to  effect  this  object. 

As  for  the  shipping  required  to  transport  that  number,  I  will  only 
remark,  that  allowing  two  persons  to  every  five  tons — the  usual  com- 
putation— and  which,  I  believe,  is  the  proportion  limited  by  the  laws 
of  congress,  and  estimating  an  average  of  two  voyages  a  year  to  each 
vessel,  the  tonnage  required  would  be  7,500,  which  is  less,  sir,  than 
the  hundred  and  seventieth  part  of  the  mercantile  marine  of  the  United 
States — excluding  from  view,  the  whole  of  our  navy.  Let  us  not  hear, 
then,  any  more  about  the  impossibility  of  removing  such  a|^^  number* 
Sir,  you  know  that  most  of  the  civilized  powers  of  Europe,  have  long 
combined  to  suppress  the  slave  trade.  Expensive  armaments  are 
constantly  cruising,  to  intercept  and  prevent  it.  Those  engaged  in 
it,  are  denounced  as  pirates.  And  yet,  sir,  notwithstanding  all  these 
precautions,  there  are  annually  brought  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  and 
sold  into  slavery,  an  average  of  100,000  natives.  There  were  brought, 
as  I  learn  from  unquestionable  authority,  not  long  since,  25,000  into 
the  island  of  Cuba  alone,  in  one  year,  notwithstanding  her  coast  is 
habitually  begirt  with  the  cruising  vessels  of  different  nations.  And 
if  all  this  can  be  effected  against  so  many  risks  and  hazards,  and  in 
violation  of  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  shall  it  be  said  that  the  whole 
state  of  Virginia  cannot  transport  6,000  to  Africa  in  a  year? 

And  will  the  expense  involved — $200,000 — be  considered  as  pre- 
senting an  insuperable  obstacle?  I  hope  no  person  will  be  found  dis- 
posed so  to  regard  it.  Suppose  the  state  shall  have  to  rely  in  attain- 
ing this  great  and  important  object,  on  her  own  resources  exclusively 
— that  she  is  to  derive  no  aid  whatever  from  the  general  government, 
and  that  she  is  not  to  resort  to  the  alternative  of  throwing  on  pos- 
terity, by  a  system  of  loans,  part  of  the  charge  of  removing  what 
would  be  a  horrible  burden  on  them — that  she  may  have  to  raise  the 
amount  in  the  most  oppressive  shape — by  direct  taxation  to  the  whole- 
amount,  what  is  the  sum  required,  to  the  object  to  be  attained  by  it  ? 
$200,000  on  the  great  slate  of  Virginia,  is  less  than  30  cents  a  head 
on  her  white  inhabitants.  And  who  would  refuse  to  pay  that?  Ab- 
stinence from  two  or  three  glasses  of  toddy  at  the  court  house,  would 
pay  it  in  one  day.  What  addition  would  it  make  to  our  present  bur- 
dens? Tlie  revenue  paid  to  the  state,  at  present,  is  nearly  half  a 
million  of  dollars.  The  county  levies — the  poor  rates— and  other 
occasional  public  dues,  amount  to  about  the  same  sum.  So  that  the 
people  of  the  state  now,  have  to  raise  a  million  of  dollars  for  public 
purposes  annually,  besides  the  income  of  the  Literary  Fund,  and  that 
for  internal  improvement.  The  proposed  amount,  would  only  increase 
the  burden  20  per  cent.  But  I  do  not  apprehend  that  there  would  be 
the  least  necessity  for  deriving  the  whole  amount  immediately  from  tax- 
ation, as  fast  as  it  is  wanting.  If  there  ever  was  an  object  for  which 
it  would  be  good  policy  for  one  generation  to  anticipate  the  resources 
of  the  next,  and  bequeath  to  it  part  of  the  cost  along  with  the  j^enefit, 
this  is  certainly  the  object.  But  1  shall  not  urge  that  matter  at^resent, 
because  it  is  not  necessar3^ 

I  have  supposed  it  not  only  probable,  but  approaching  certainty, 


33 

that  we  might  ohtain  considerable  resources  from  the  federal  govern- 
ment, to  which  we  are  entitled,  on  every  consideration  of  equal  jus- 
tice, and  which  we  might  consistently  receive,  without  the  sHghtest 
violation  of  those  strict  state  right  principles  which  distinguish  our 
Virginia  political  school,  and  of  which  1  profess  myself  a  disciple.  Of 
the  public  lands  held  by  the  general  government,  a  large  portion,  it 
will  be  recollected,  was  ceded  by  Virginia — a  portion  too,  which  was 
exceedingly  valuable.  We  have  never  received  any  valuable  return 
from  them.  The  sales  of  the  public  lands  usually  produce  an  aver- 
age avail  of  $3,000,000.  1  think  the  last  prospective  estimate  of  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  rated  it  at  that  amount.  The  proportion  of 
this,  to  which  Virginia  would  be  entitled,  according  to  the  rateable 
principles  which  have  been  recognized,  would  be  about  $275,000  a 
year.  Then  there  is  our  fair  proportion  of  the  surplus,  which  remains 
in  the  federal  treasury,  of  the  ordinary  revenue.  This  would  be  a  far 
greater  sum.  I  would  not  consent  that  the  present  tariff  should  be 
continued  on  us,  even  if  we  could  derive  this  benefit  from  it — but  if 
we  are  to  be  burdened,  sh-aW  we  bear  all  the  evil,  and  get  no  part  of 
the  good  in  return?  This  last  accession  to  our  resources,  could  not, 
according  to  my  construction  of  the  powers  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, be  appropriated  to  the  desired  object,  without  an  amendment  of 
the  constitution.  No  amendment  would,  I  apprehend,  be  necessary 
to  authorise  the  disposition  I  have  alluded  to,  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
public  lands.  The  power  of  congress  over  these  lands  and  their 
avails,  from  provisions  in  the  acts  of  cession,  and  otherwise,  have 
been  supposed,  by  some  of  our  most  correct  statesmen,  to  stand  on 
entirely  different  ground  from  the  revenue  derived  from  imposts.— 
Congress  has  frequently  acted,  it  would  seem,  on  that  understanding. 
But  it  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  that  question.  An  amendment  of  the 
constitution  could  as  well  be  solicited  to  embrace  that  source  of  reve- 
nue as  the  other;  and  from  recent  information,  on  which  I  place  im- 
plicit reliance,  I  think  congress  at  this  time  has  every  disposition  to 
aid  us  on  this  subject,  or  accede  to  any  necessary  amendment  of  the 
constitution  for  the  purpose,  that  we  could  desire.  Indeed,  sir,  I  have 
seen  letters  from  several  distinguished  members  of  that  body  lately, 
which  express  the  confident  belief  that  such  an  application  would  rea- 
dily prevail.  J  should  not,  of  course,  consent  that  any  funds  from  the 
general  government  should  be  appropriated  within  our  state  to  the 
purpose  of  removing  our  free  persons  of  color,  or  purchasing  and  de- 
porting any  portion  of  our  slaves,  except  on  the  condition,  that  the 
object  was  to  be  effected  exclusively  under  the  control  of  the  state  au- 
thorities— under  regulations  of  its  enactment — and  by  agents  of  its 
appointment.  With  these  safeguards,  I  can  perceive  no  objection. 
Mr.  King,  of  New  York,  introduced,  it  will  be  recollected,  a  few  years 
ago,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  resolutions  for  appropriating 
the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  to  these  purposes.  The  movement 
was  denounced  through  all  the  southern  states  as  an  alarming  indica- 
tion of  the  disposition  of  northern  politicians  to  interfere  with  the  rela- 
tion between  master  and  slave,  and  the  resolution  and  its  mover  held^ 
up  to  vindictive  reprobation.  But  the  event  has  passed  by,  long 
enough  for  us  to  examine  his  project  more  coolly,  and  it  bears  intrin- 
5 


34 


sic  evidence  of  disinterestedness  and  patriotism.  It  did  not  propose 
the  compulsory  abolition  of  slavery  in  a  single  instance — but  its  gra- 
dual reduction,  by  applying  these  particular  funds  to  the  purchase  and 
removal  of  such  slaves  only,  as  their  owners  might  wish  to  sell.  I 
confess  1  have  ever  believed  that  had  the  same  proposition  proceeded 
from  a  southern  statesman,  it  would  have  been  hailed  with  applause 
through  all  the  slave-holding  states.  It  was  calculated  surely  to  have 
increased  the  value  of  our  slaves,  by  throwing  into  the  market  an  ad- 
ditional fund  for  their  purchase,  and  the  benefit  of  the  operation  would 
obviously  have  been,  primarily  and  almost  exclusively  on  us;  while 
the  only  benefit  which  could  have  resulted  to  the  north,  from  the  sur- 
render of  a  fund  in  which  they  possessed  a  common  interest,  would 
have  been  the  gratification  of  seeing  the  gradual  extinction  of  an  evil, 
which,  though  it  did  not  immediately  affect  them,  they  had  contribu- 
ted originally  to  introduce — and  the  higher  gratification  of  witnessing 
an  amelioration  in  the  condition  of  the  United  States  as  an  whole. 
Whatever  political  heresies  Rufus  King  may  have  committed,  I,  for 
one,  regard  this  as  a  redeeming  act  in  his  life.  Should  no  other  mem- 
ber do  so,  it  is  my  intention  at  a  proper  time  to  offer  resolutions  in- 
structing our  senators,  and  requesting  our  representatives  in  congress 
to  propose  the  amendment  to  the  constitution  which  may  be  necessary 
to  authorise  this  disbursement  of  the  federal  funds. 

For  the  transportation  of  our  free  negroes  alone,  I  have  endeavored 
to  shew  our  state  resources  are  amply  sufficient.  Let  us,  then,  com- 
mence in  effecting  that,  about  which  most  of  us  are  agreed—and  which 
is  all  that  could,  for  the  present,  be  effected,  whatever  may  be  the  ul- 
terior object  of  any- — the  removal  of  the  free  persons  of  color.  When 
this  shall  have  been  completed — if  in  its  process  it  shall  have  demon- 
strated the  practicability  of  this  plan  of  gradual  deportation — and  if 
the  means  shall  by  that  time  be  within  our  control  with  which  to  effect 
it,  as  I  hope  I  have  shewn  was  at  least  probable,  what  is  to  prevent 
our  going  on  with  the  system,  by  the  removal,  annually,  of  as  many 
as  6,000  of  those  who  now  are  slaves?  We  shall  have  the  means,  I 
trust,  of  purchasing  this  number  at  fair  prices.  But,  it  is  my  decided 
belief,  that  this  will  not  become  necessary — or,  at  any  rale,  beyond  a 
limited  extent.  There  are  numbers  of  slave-holders  at  this  very  time 
in  Virginia — I  do  not  speak  from  vague  conjecture,  but  from  what  I 
know  from  the  best  information — and  this  number  would  continue  to 
increase — who  would  voluntarily  surrender  their  slaves,  if  the  state 
would  provide  the  means  of  colonizing  them  elsewhere.  And  there 
would  be  again  another  class — I  have  already  heard  of  many — who, 
while  they  could  not  afford  to  sacrifice  the  entire  value  of  their  slaves, 
would  cheerfully  compromise  with  the  state  for  half  their  value.  And 
if,  in  these  various  modes,  the  state  could  acquire — instead  of  6,000  a 
year— 10,000  a  year,  and  it  should  then  be  deemed  desirable  to  ac- 
complish such  an  end,  it  will  be  seen  by  a  simple  calculation,  allow- 
ing for  all  the  intervening  increase,  that  in  less  than  80  years  there 
would  not  be  left  one  single  slave  or  free  negro  in  all  Virginia. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  many,  at  first  sight,  are  appalled  at  what  they 
consider  the  magnitude  of  such  an  undertaking.  There  are  some  per- 
sons of  sanguine  temperament— and,  perhaps,  I  may  be  one— who  re- 


35 


gard  few  things  as  impracticable  or  unattainable,  which  are  sought 
with  determined,  but  cool  and  patient  perseverance;  while  there  are 
others  who  either  despair  without  an  effort,  or  are  put  down  by  the 
first  obstacle  tbey  encounter.  The}'  can  see  difficulties  and  objections 
to  every  thing  that  requires  exertion.  The  people,  sir,  have  called 
upon  us — and  they  expect  us  to  do  something.  Shall  we  fold  our  arms 
and  say  to  tliem,  "the  effort  is  too  great,  we  have  not  the  means  nor 
the  power,  and  we  can  do  nothing.  Something  might  have  been  done 
perhaps  some  years  ago,  but  it  is  now  too  late,  and  there  is  nothing 
left  to  us  but  to  sit  down  in  despair.^"  "For  a  nation  to  be  free,  it 
is  sufficient  that  she  luills  it,"  was  the  memorable  remark  of  one  of 
those  patriots  whose  writings  eminently  contributed  to  our  glorious 
revolution.  And  the  same  success  is  equally  sure  to  follow  the  deter- 
mined efforts  of  individuals,  societies,  or  nations.  In  the  biography 
of  distinguished  individuals,  many  of  whom  have  risen  from  the  hum- 
blest and  most  unpromising  condition,  what  have  we  not  seen  effected 
by  a  high  degree  of  moral  firmness,  and  energy,  and  decision  of  cha- 
racter? A  joung  man,  especially  in  our  happy  country,  where  so 
auspicious  a  field  for  the  prosperous  efforts  of  all  is  presented,  may 
become  almost  any  thing  which  he  determines  to  become.  Let  him 
but  proportion  his  exertions  to  the  end  to  be  attained,  and  he  will  at- 
tain it.  When  he  has  reached  one  object  of  ambition  which  he  had 
pointed  out  to  himself,  let  him  but  make  another  mark  on  the  wall,  still 
higher  up,  and  in  due  time,  with  patient  perseverance,  he  will  rise  to 
that  also.  It  is  not  so  much  inequalities  in  genius  or  imagination 
which  have  distinguished  men,  as  it  is  difference  in  energy  of  charac- 
ter— firm  decision  of  purpose — and  stability  of  judgment  to  point  out 
what  objects  are  desirable,  and  to  be  pursued  "  with  an  eye  that  never 
winks,  and  a  wing  that  never  tires."  All  this  is  more  emphatically 
true  of  states  and  nations.  To  attempt  to  show  how  little  mere  phy- 
sical strength  has  to  do  with  the  elevation  or  depression  of  nations — 
■with  their  power,  prosperity  or  influence — by  what  means  states,  com- 
paratively small  in  number,  or  wealth,  have  at  different  periods  wield- 
ed the  destinies  of  the  world — would  be  a  disquisition  better  adapted 
to  a  college  society,  than  a  Virginia  legislature.  Here  I  may  assume, 
what  would  there  have  to  be  denionstrated.  And  my  maxim  is,  that 
there  is  no  desirable  political  object,  which  was  ever  yet  attained,  but 
which  the  people  of  this  country  can  attain — if  they  determine  they 
will  attain  it.  Resolute  determination,  and  unwavering  perseverance, 
are  all  that  are  essential.  With  these — the  road  before  us — which  our 
imaginations  had  depicted  as  filled  with  impassable  obstructions,  will 
be  found  smooth  and  easy  as  we  advance.  The  mountains  in  our 
way,  will  diminish  in  size  as  we  approach,  and  ultimalely  disappear. 
I  will  never  believe  then,  that  Virginia  is  really  unable  to  relieve  her- 
self of  her  difficulties. 

But  it  would  be  exceedingly  indiscreet  to  attempt  too  much  at  first; 
it  might  defeat  every  thing.  Our  exertions,  I  repeat  it,  should  be 
limited  at  present  to  the  removal  of  free  negroes.  The  importance  of 
effecting  this,  must  be  obvious  to  the  slightest  reflection.  It  would  be 
beneficial  to  themselves — beneficial  to  us — and  beneficial  to  Africa. 
Their  situation  here  is  unhappy  and  degraged.    They  are  nominally 


36 


free,  but  not  so  substantially.  They  have  none  of  the  rights  or  privi- 
leges, or  attributes  of  free  men.  They  must  ever  exist,  if  they  remain 
here,  a  distinct  and  degraded  cast — immoral  themselves,  and  demorali- 
zing to  others.  Their  influence  on  our  slaves  is  a  most  injurious  one. 
Lazy  and  dishonest  in  their  habits,  (with  some  exceptions  to  be  sure,) 
they  live  on  the  white  people,  and  corrupt  the  slaves  to  steal  from  their 
masters,  and  they  become  the  receivers.  Their  presence  and  exam- 
ple, also  exerts  a  much  more  pernicious  influence,  in  rendering  the 
slaves  restless  and  dissatisfied  with  their  condition.  Whether  or  not 
the  free  negroes  themselves,  have  ever  been  to  any  extent  actually  en- 
gaged in  fomenting  conspiracies  and  insurrections,  nothing  is  more 
certain,  than  that  they  have  an  indirect  influence  in  exciting  them. 
They  are  themselves  often  unjustly  suspected  and  cruelly  treated,  and 
no  person  can  question,  that  they  would  be  greatly  better  ofi*  if  re- 
moved from  our  country. 

But  where  is  the  domain?  we  were  asked  by  the  gentleman  from 
Mecklenburg.  Where  have  you  gotten  any  territory  to  remove  them 
to  Liberia,  we  are  informed,  is  incapable  of  receiving  but  a  limited 
number.  Sir,  I  approach  this  branch  of  the  subject  with  pleasure, 
and  with  the  confident  hope,  that  I  shall  be  able  to  remove  all  difficul- 
ty from  it. — We  have  heard  various  parts  of  the  world  spoken  of  as 
proper  for  the  purpose.  Our  own  possessions  west  of  the  Rocky 
mountains — Hayti — other  West  India  islands — and  even  the  acquisi- 
tion of  Texas,  if  practicable,  has  been  alluded  to  as  desirable,  on  which 
to  place  an  intervening  sable  nation  between  the  stales  of  this  union 
and  Mexico.  To  all  these,  there  are,  in  my  opinion,  insuperable  ob- 
jections. If  residence  on  our  own  continent  were  not  itself  objection- 
able, the  climate  of  our  territory  on  the  Columbia  river,  or  elsewhere 
on  that  coast,  is  too  cold  to  permit  the  existence  of  i\frican  descend- 
ants. To  send  them  there,  would  be  but  legalized  butchery.  Texas 
is  out  of  the  question.  It  can  probably  not  be  acquired  by  our  gov- 
ernment for  any  purposes,  and  if  we  owned  it  already,  it  would  be  as 
impolitic  in  itself  as  unjust  to  our  adjoining  southwestern  states,  where 
slavery  exists,  to  attempt  to  locate  such  a  population  so  near  to  them. 
They  would  never  consent  to  it.  Hayti  might  receive  a  few,  but  is 
inadequate  in  its  capacities  to  the  demand.  As  for  the  English  West 
India  islands,  they,  Mr.  Speaker,  are,  I  think  I  can  foresee,  to  be  free 
in  a  few  years.  Yes,  sir;  if  the  reform  bill  should  pass  in  the  Brit- 
ish Parliament,  one  of  the  first  measures  of  the  Reformed  Government 
will  be,  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  West  indies.  Ifit  does  not 
pass,  there  will  be  a  revolution  in  the  government — and,  in  either 
event,  freedom  will  be  established  in  the  West  Indies.  That  some  of 
our  colored  population  may  find  a  resting  place  there,  is  indeed  pro- 
bable; but  whether  it  would  be  desirable  to  place  a  very  large  por- 
tion of  them  there,  if  we  could,  is  a  question  for  reflection,  which  1  do 
not  deem  it  necessary  to  discuss.  But,  sir,  whatever  additional  facili- 
ties may  present  themselves,  Africa — yes,  sir,  persecuted  and  injured 
Africa — is,  of  all  regions  on  the  globe,  the  appropriate  place  for  the 
deportation  of  our  African  descendants.  Let  us  translate  them  to 
those  realms  from  which,  in  evil  times,  under  inauspicious  influences, 
their  fathers  were  unfortunately  abducted — unfortunately  for  both  par- 


/■ 


37 

lies— unfortunately  for  them  and  their  descendants — but  much  more 
mifortiinately  for  those  among  whom  an  angry  providence  permitted 
them  to  be  placed.  Mr.  Speaker,  the  idea  of  restoring  these  people 
to  the  region  in  which  nature  had  planted  them,  and  to  whose  climate 
she  Ijad  fitted  their  constitutions— the  idea  of  benefitting  not  only  our 
condition  and  their  condition  by  the  removal,  but  making  them  the 
means  of  carrying  back  to  a  great  continent,  lost  in  the  profoundest 
depths  of  savage  barbarity,  and  unconscious  of  the  existence  even  of 
the  God  who  created  them — not  only  the  arts,  and  comforts,  and  mul- 
tiplied advantages  of  civilized  life,  but  what  is  of  more  value  than  all — 
a  knowledge  of  true  religion — intelligence  of  a  Redeemer — is  one  of 
the  grandest  and  noblest,  one  of  the  most  expansive  and  glorious  ideas 
which  ever  entered  into  the  imagination  of  man.  The  conception— 
whether  to  the  pliilosopher,  the  statesman,  the  philanthropist  or  the 
christian — of  rearing  up  a  colony,  which  is  to  be  the  nucleus  around 
which  future  emigration  will  concentre,  and  open  all  Africa  to  civi- 
lization and  commerce,  and  science  and  arts,  and  religion — when 
*'  Ethiopia  shall  stretch  out  her  hands,"  indeed,  is  one,  which  warms 
the  heart  with  delight. 

Does  Africa,  then,  afford  the  facilities  and  capacities  for  receiving 
them.'^  Sir,  the  little  colony  of  Liberia  alone,  founded  by  a  private 
association,  with  limited  means,  having  to  encounter  the  prejudices  of 
thousands  in  our  own  country,  who  would  never  examine  its  real  objects 
or  principles  of  action — and  which  had  to  subdue  numerous  disad- 
vantages, within  and  without,  incident  to  the  infant  exertion,  has  pros- 
pered already  beyond  all  calculation.  It  contains  at  present  a  popu- 
lation of  about  2,400 — has  established  wholesome  institutions  and 
laws— established  commercial  relations  with  the  surrounding  tribes— - 
and  already  exerts  a  most  happy  influence  over  large  portions  of  Af- 
rica. It  is  said  by  men  who  know  its  condition,  and  are  not  enthusi- 
asts, to  be  in  a  more  prosperous  condition  than  any  other  colony 
which  has  been  founded  in  centuries.  Its  disadvantages  were  dis- 
heartening—but not  so  great  as  our  own  ancestors  had  to  encounter, 
when  they  landed  at  Jamestown.  You  are  aware,  sir,  that  the  pos- 
sessions of  the  colony  now,  extend  from  the  Gallinas  river,  on  the 
north,  to  the  territory  of  Kroo  Settra,  on  the  coast  which  is  south  of 
it— a  distance  of  280  miles  in  length — and  that  the  country  ali  eady 
under  its  actual  jurisdiction,  extends  150  miles  along  the  coast,  from 
Grand  Cape  Mount;  near  the  mouth  of  the  Pissou  river,  to  Trade- 
town.  The  possessions  already  acquired  by  this  private  company, 
are  capable  of  containing  thousands  of  inhabitants— but  why  should 
we  confine  our  observation  to  them?  Regions  of  interminable  extent, 
and  possessing  great  advantages,  can  be  acquired  in  Africa  almost 
for  a  song.  In  one  treaty,  we  could  obtain  territory  enough  to  hold 
every  negro  in  the  United  States — much  more  those  in  Virginia. — 
It  is  true  we  are  very  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  geography  of 
the  interior  of  Africa;  but  recent  explorations  have  reflected  much  ad- 
ditional light  on  the  information  which  we  formerly  possessed.  We 
know  that  there  are  at  some  distance  in  the  interior,  very  extensive 
regions,  peopled  by  sparse  and  wandering  tribes,  which  are  extremely 
fertile — and  as  healthy,  from  all  appearances,  as  any  other  tropical  cli- 


38 


mate.  A  letter  was  not  long  since  received  from  Dr.  Mecklin,  the 
resident  colonial  agent,  who  had  proceeded  up  the  Mesurado  river  to 
its  source.  He  there  found  that  the  head  waters  of  the  Junk  river 
were  in  the  same  neighborhood.  He  returned  down  that,  and  pur- 
sued its  whole  course  for  a  great  distance,  to  its  mouth,  less  than  forty 
miles  from  Monrovia;  and  to  his  great  surprise,  found  it  a  wide  and 
noble  stream,  capable  of  any  inland  navigation,  and  bordered  by  ex- 
tensive plains  of  rich  and  valuable  land— exhibiting  appearances  sim- 
ilar to  the  lands  seen  in  tracing  James  river,  from  City  Point  to  the 
ocean,  in  providing  other  tracts  of  territory,  through  the  agency  of 
the  federal  government,  for  the  reception  of  any  future  increased  num- 
ber of  emigrants,  selections  could  be  made,  so  judiciously,  as  with  lit- 
tle expense,  to  give  us  the  entire  control  of  the  whole  southwest  coast 
of  Africa — enable  us  forever  to  put  down  the  sla  /e  trade — and  place 
the  native  tribes  of  the  interior  in  dependence  on  the  settlers  from 
America.  The  present  colony  owns  most  of  the  valuable  harbors  now, 
if  any  of  them  can  be  called  so,  on  an  extended  line  of  coast.  By 
acquiring  the  island  of  Bulama,  for  instance,  [a  policy  which  I  recol- 
lect to  have  seen  somewhere  recommended,]  in  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  within  a  short  run  from  the  Cape  de  Verds,  and  the 
point  at  which  vessels  from  thence  usually  touch,  on  the  north  of  the 
English  settlement  of  Sierra  Leone,  [which,  from  causes  well  under- 
stood, has  never  flourished — and  can  never  possess  an  extended  in- 
fluence,] and  also  obtaining  Cape  Palmas,  on  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  southwest  coast — we  should  have  a  frontier  which  would  include 
the  mouths  of  the  Rio  Grande — the  Gambia — Nunes,  and  Pongos, 
Sierra  Leone,  Cape  Mount,  and  the  Kroo  nation,  which  constitutes 
the  only  native  seamen  in  Africa.  We  should  hold  the  commercial 
key  of  the  whole  south  and  west  coasts,  and  as  far  east  as  the  Bight 
of  Biafra,  and  control  as  we  pleased,  the  trade  of  the  Gambia,  the 
Senegal,  and  even  of  the  Niger — the  Ivor}^  coast  and  the  Gold  Coast. 
So,  sir,  of  all  other  objections,  let  us  not  be  distressed  by  the  difficulty, 
that  we  cannot  find  a  place  to  carry  our  black  population  to. 

Mr.  Speaker — one  objection  has  been  urged  to  any  legislative  ac- 
tion on  this  subject — that  it  is  calculated  to  impair  the  value  of  the 
slave  property.    To  this  idea,  I  have  not  devoted,  heretofore,  any 
particular  attention.    If  the  plan  which  I  recommend  involves  any 
sucii  consequence,  I  must,  on  my  own  principles,  abandon  it.  But, 
sir,  its  operation,  if  introduced,  will  be  precisely  the  reverse,  if  it  shall 
exert  any  influenre  at  all  on  their  value.    The  abduction  of  the  free 
negroes  may  increase  the  value  of  labor,  and  cannot  impair,  if  it  did 
not  improve,  the  value  of  slaves.    But  the  objection,  I  presume,  is 
intended  to  rest  principally  on  that  feature  in  the  plan,  which  propo- 
ses hereafter  the  purchase  of  slaves,  or  their  removal,  if  surrendered 
without  compensation,  by  the  public  funds.    The  price  of  slaves,  pro- 
bably, will  decline  in  Virginia,  whether  we  introduce  any  system  like 
this  or  not — certainly,  if  the  southwestern  states  shall  prohibit  their 
introduction  there.    And  this  reduction  in  value  may  give  rise  to  a 
mistake  as  to  its  cause.    Sir,  it  is  not  the  domestic  demand  for  slave 
labor,  which  has  ever  graduated  their  price  here,  but  the  foreign 
demand.    Their  labor  is  infinitely  more  productive,  on  the  sugar, 


39 


and  rice,  and  cotton  plantations  of  the  south  and  west,  than  it  can 
ever  be  rendered  in  Virginia — and  consequently  the  value  here, 
must  very  much  depend  on  the  demand  there.  No  man  could,  from 
mere  pecuniary  considerations,  afford  to  give  8500  for  a  slave  to  be 
worked  on  an  ordinary  Virginia  plantation,  though  many  own  slaves 
which  they  would  not  sell  at  any  price.  So  that,  if  the  number  here- 
after sent  to  those  other  states,  be  materially  diminished,  the  value  of 
them  here  must  decline.  But  if  such  should  be  the  result,  it  will  not 
be  the  consequence  of  any  system  like  that  which  I  recommend.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  an  acknowledged  principle  of  political  economy, 
that  as  the  supply  of  any  article  is  diminished,  the  demand  is  increased 
and  the  value  improved.  If,  for  instance,  by  any  operation,  a  fourth 
or  a  half  of  all  the  slaves  in  Virginia  were  removed,  would  not  those 
who  remain  be  more  valuable?  And  will  not  the  effect  of  throwing  an 
augmented  capital  into  the  market,  as  before  intimated,  have  the  same 
tendency  ? 

But  what  if  the  gradual  abduction  of  part  of  our  black  population, 
were  to  cause  some  pecuniary  loss  ?  Are  the  people  prepared  to  make 
no  sacrifice  to  attain  an  object  so  desirable  as  this  holds  out?  I  know, 
sir,  that  it  is  one  of  the  weakest  points  of  our  nature — all  history  proves 
it  to  be  true  of  individuals  and  nations — to  cling  with  pertinacity  to 
all  we  possess — and  thus  to  peril  all,  rather  than  by  giving  up  a  por- 
tion, to  secure  the  residue.    The  lessons  of  experience  are  exhibited 
to  us  in  vain.    "  No  man  profits  by  the  experience  of  others — he  must 
pay  for  it  himself."    And  he  often  does  it  dearly.    At  this  very  mo- 
ment we  see  the  aristocracy  of  England,  rather  than  submit  to  a  mo- 
derate reform  in  the  government,  and  consequent  abatement  of  a  por- 
tion of  their  exclusive  privileges,  are  jeoparding  the  whole — and  no- 
thing prevents  an  immediate  explosion — a  dreadful  revolution  in  Eng- 
land, but  the  fact,  that  the  king  is  on  the  side  of  the  people,  and  they 
hope  thus  eventually  to  attain  their  object,  without  a  recurrence  to  the 
ultima  ratio.    Such  was  the  fate  of  the  ancient  monarchy  of  France — 
and  the  principle  is  more  or  less  illustrated,  in  the  history  of  almost 
every  nation,  and  the  biography  of  almost  every  individual.    So,  here, 
the  minds  of  some,  seem  to  revolt  at  the  idea  of  losing  part  of  their 
slaves,  even  on  just  compensation.    Sir,  we  shall  have  to  surrender  a 
part,  on  some  terras,  or  eventually  to  lose  the  whole.    Not  soon,  sir, 
but  by  their  ultimate  extirpation,  and  in  the  manner  I  have  depicted. 
If  the  people  of  Virginia — many  of  those  at  least  who  are  in  the  habit 
of  reflecting  most  intensely  and  deciding  most  accurately — see  that  no 
effort  is  to  be  made  to  avert  the  probable  consequences  of  the  present 
course  of  things,  but  learn  that  it  is  settled  that  the  Old  Dominion  is, 
to  the  end  of  time,  to  remain  as  she  is — her  bright  and  towering  pros- 
pects svill  become  overclouded — they  will  desert  the  land  of  their  na- 
tivity, and  remove  to  fairer  fields,  where  no  such  difficulties  impend. 
But  if  they  could  see  only  the  incipient  efforts  made — some  plan  pro- 
posed— no  matter  how  lar  in  advance  its  inceptive  action  should  be 
placed — no  matter  how  gradually  or  slowly  the  process  was  to  operate 
— some  rational  hope  presented  that  the  existing  order  of  things  was 
not  to  continue  forever,  but  that  there  was  to  be  a  diminution,  if  not 
extinction,  of  the  evils  of  an  overflowing  black  population,  they  would 


40 


rest  satisfied.  The  young  would  abandon  the  thoughts  of  removal^ 
and  the  old  would  cry  out  in  the  language  of  ancient  Simeon,  Nunc 
Domine,  dimiUasJ''^ 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  am  aware,  that  by  the  frank  and  unreserved  expres- 
sion that  I  have  given  to  my  sentiments  on  this  vitally  interesting  sub- 
ject, I  may  have  called  down  on  my  head,  denunciations  from  those 
who  view  it  in  a  different  aspect,  and  who  go  farther  than  I  am  willing 
to  go,  or  who  fall  short  of  me.  I  feel  that  I  have  little  of  public  stand- 
ing, or  capacity  for  public  usefulness  to  lose — but  had  I  as  much  moral 
and  political  weight  of  character  as  ever  rested  on  mortal  man,  I  would 
peril  it  all  in  such  a  cause  as  this.  The  prosperity  of  the  country  is 
at  stake,  and  I  will  speak  freely  what  1  honestly  think.  "It  is  my 
own — my  native  land,"  and  what  I  can  do,  I  will  do,  to  save  her.  As 
soon  would  I  think  of  deserting  a  mother  in  distress,  as  of  leaving  her 
in  her  present  situation.  We  have  listened  to  many  lugubrious  des- 
criptions of  her  worn  fields,  and  desolated  condition — and  of  the  sor- 
rowing breeze,  sighing  through  the  tops  of  her  pines.  But  she  is  my 
country;  and  for  one,  I  will  stand  by  her,  through  evil  report  as  well 
as  good.  All  that  I  have — whatever  interest  I  possess  on  earth — is 
embarked  on  board  the  old  vessel,  and  I  will  remain  with  her, — let 
her  sink  or  swim. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  cannot  resume  my  seat,  without  an  unaffected  and 
grateful  expression  of  my  thanks  to  you,  and  to  the  house,  for  the 
very  patient  and  polite  attention,  with  which  you  have  regarded  the 
remarks  I  have  submitted,  and  which  have  been  greatly  more  discitr- 
sive  and  lengthy  than  I  had  intended  when  I  commenced  them. 


As  much  misapprehension  has  existed,  as  to  the  provisions  of  the  bill  for  the  removal  of 
free  persons  of  color  from  the  commomvealth,  as  originally  reported  from  the  committee,  of 
which  Mr.  Brodnax  was  chainiian,  and  especially  as  to  the  character  of  that  compulsory  feU" 
turemii^hy  which  all  were  eventually  to  be  deported,  but  none  contrary  to  then- consent,  so 
long  as  any  are  found  wilHng  to  go — and  even  then,  under  the  most  hmnane  regulations — 
involving  the  severance  of  no  domestic  ties  or  connexions — and  excepting  fi-om  its  operation 
all  such  as  the  county  courts  might  allow,  from  theh  age  or  exemplary  conduct — as  this  fea* 
ture  has  not  only  been  misconceived  as  to  its  effects,  but  branded  as  a  measure  of  inliimianity 
and  cruelty,  it  is  deemed  proper  to  append  here,  the  remarks  of  Mr,  Brodnax  on  that  par- 
ticular section  of  the  bill,  to  exhibit  the  real  character  of  the  proposed  measure,  and  the 
reasons  on  which  his  opmions  were  formed. 


MONDAY,  February  6,  1832. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Brodnax,  the  house  resolved  itself  into  gt  committee  of  the  whole,  on 
the  "  bill  to  provide  for  the  removal  of  free  persons  of  color  from  this  commonwealth." 

The  first  section  of  the  bill  having  been  read,  Mr.  Brodnax  remarked,  that  it  was  well 
Understood  by  the  gentlemen  who  had  examined  the  bill,  that  one  of  its  fundamental  princi- 
ples was  that  compulsory  feature  in  the  system,  by  which  force  was  eventually  to  be  recurred 
to,  in  relation  to  such  free  jDersons  of  color  as  might  be  unwilling  to  remove  from  the  state — 
that  many  of  the  subsequent  details  were  consequential  to  this,  and  would  become  inappli- 
cable, should  tliis  substratum  be  removed.  If  the  principle  were  retained,  the  bill  would, 
probably,  requne  but  Uttle  amendment  elsewhere ;  if  it  be  rejected,  its  nimierous  provisions 
would  have  to  be  moulded  into  accommodation  with  the  adverse  principle  estabUshedj  and 
on  that  latter  contingency,  all  the  time  of  going  tlu'ough  the  entne  bill  in  committee  of  the 
whole  would  be  lost.  It  was  known  that  a  gi-eat  diversity  of  opinion  existed  on  the  expedi- 
ency of  introducing  that  feature  into  any  legislation  at  present.  He  presumed,  from  what 
he  had  elsewhere  heard,  that  a  majority  would  be  found  opposed  to  it; — in  that  state  of 
tilings  he  had  risen  to  recommend  it  to  some  gentleman  who  stood  thus  opposed  to  tliis  im* 
^jortant  princijole,  to  move  the  amendment  of  the  first  section,  which  coiild  readily  be  done, 
so  as  to  present  the  question  directly  to  our  consideration,  and  if  the  amendment  be  sus- 
tained, the  most  judicious  com-se,  would  be  for  the  committee  of  the  whole  inmiediately  to 
rise,  report  the  bill,  and  for  the  house  to  recommit  it  to  the  select  conmiittee,  with  instruc- 
tions to  amend  it  conformably  with  the  principle  established. 

Mr.  Campbell  of  Brooke  said  tliat,  as  one  of  the  minority  of  the  committee  which  reported 
the  bin,  and  opjiosed  to  the  principle  contained  in  its  first  section,  he  moved  to  amend  it  by 
the  insertion  after  the  word  shall  in  the  third  line,  of  the  words  "  with  their  own  consent." 
He  apprehended  that  it  was  unnecessary  for  him  nov/  to  go  at  length  into  the  many  reasons 
for  liis  opposition  to  the  compulsory  feature  of  the  bill.  If,  however,  any  member  desired 
an  explanation  of  his  views  he  was  prepared  to  make  it. 

Mr.  Brodnax  said,  that  if  he  supposed  a  full,  elaborated  discussion  of  the  question  now 
presented,  could  be  necessary,  or  was  even  desired  by  the  house,  he  should  very  much  regret 
his  inability,  from  a  severe  cold,  to  take  an  active  participation  in  it.  But  he  concurred  with 
the  gentleman  from  Brooke,  that  tliis  could  not  then  be  necessary.  The  subject  had  long 
been  under  consideration  in  some  aspect  or  other,  and  not  a  member,  probably  was  present, 
who  had  not  formed  some  definitive  opinion.  He  could  not,  however,  witliliold  the  expres- 
sion of  a  few  views  on  a  subject  which  he  regarded  as  essentially  connected  with  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  state,  and  one  which  he  frankly  confessed  he  had  very  much  at  heart.  The 
question  now  involved,  is  simply,  whether  or  not  any  compulsory  measures  are  to  be  resorted 
to,  to  compel  the  removal  of  the  free  negroes  from  among  us,  after  all  who  consent  shall  have 
been  transported?  Looking  entirely  to  the  result,  (without  regard  to  the  mode  by  which  it  is 
to  be  eifected,)  it  will  be  found  that  this  is  not  a  question  of  the  importance  which  is  ascribed 
to  it.  Pass  the  law  in  either  aspect,  and  this  unhappy  race  xciU  he  removed.  It  is  idle  to  talk 
about  not  resorting  to  force.  Every  body  must  look  to  the  introduction  of  force  of  some  kind 
or  other — and  it  is  in  truth  a  question  of  expediency ;  of  moral  justice ;  of  political  good  faith 
— whether  we  shall  faiiiy  delineate  our  whole  sy&tern  on  the  face  of  the  bill,  or  leave  the  ac- 

6 


42 


quisition  of  extorted  consent  to  other  processes.    The  -real  qtiestion—t.lte  only  question  of 
magnitude  to  be  settled,  is  tlie  great  prehminary  question — Do  you  intend  to  send  llie  free  ■ 
persons  of  color  out  of  Virginia,  or  not? — This  question  should  be  met  Ijoldly,  and  decided 
frankly.    On  tliat  question  he  had  supposed  a  greater  unanimity  existed  among  our  consti- 
tuents, and  among  their  delegates  here,  than  on  any  measure  of  general  interest  which  could 
engage  their  deliberations — and,  believing  so,  he  certainly  should  not  undertake  to  discuss 
the  general  question.  I  confess,  said  iMr.  B.,  that  were  it  not  for  the  high  opinion  {  entertain 
of  the  ingenuous  character  of  the  opponents  (  ,f  this  coercive  feature,  I  should  doubt  their  sin- 
cerity, when  they  tell  me,  that  they  are  clear  for  sending  away  the  free  negroes  out  of  the 
United  States ;  but  are  opposed  to  using  any  compulsion  about  it.  And  even  now,  I  cannot 
look  at  these  two  propositions,  placed  in  juxtaposition,  without  perceiving  that  they  involve 
a  contradiction  and  an  absurdity,  unless  you  associate  with  them  a  third  proposition,  which 
no  gentleman,  who  formiS  a  component  part  cf  this  committee,  it  seems  to  rae,  can  believe — 
that  is,  that  the  free  negroes  of  Virginia  are,  in  truth,  willing  to  be  removed  from  the  United 
States.  Sir,  does  any  gentleman  believe  this?  If  they  are  sincere  in  their  intention  to  remove 
the  free-  blacks,  they  must  come  to  the  results  juovided  in  that  bill — or  they  must  look  to 
some  more  exceptionable 'j^iode  of  compulsion— or  they  must  believe  these  people  will  con- 
sent to  be  transported.   Can  they  believe  the  latter?  The  gentleman  from  Brooke  expresses 
the  belief  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  our  free  persons  of  color  will  voluntarily  consent 
to  go.    Sir,  I  am  not  surprised  at  that  gentleman's  entertaining  such  an  opinion,  for  he  comes 
from  a  part  of  our  state  whei-e  there  are  comparatively  none  of  this  class.    But  will  any 
member  say  so,  who  represents  a  county  where  the  ntmiber  is  great,  and  who  ha^  had  oppor- 
tunities of  judging  correctly  of  their  prejudices  and  opinions?  Sir,  this  has  been  to  me  a  sub- 
ject of  long  and  painful  reflection.    It  is  one  of  great  delicacy  and  embarrassment — nothing 
but  the  highest  considerations — nothing  short  of  the  most  conscientious  conviction  that  their 
own  good,  as  well  as  our  happiness  avouM  be  promoted  by  it — or  the  most  imperative  and 
clearly  defined  necessity,  would  induce  me  to  think  of  removing  a  whole  class  of  our  popula- 
tion from  the  land  ; — as  it  is,  I  regard  the  measure,  in  the  language  of  this  preamble,  "not 
only  one  of  sound  policy,  but  one  indicated  by  considerations  of  enlightened  pliilanthropy." 
But  the  question  is  not  now  before  us,  whether  it  is  right  or  just  to  remove  them?  that  will 
occur  in  a  different  mode  hereafter — At  present,  the  affirmative  is  assumxcd,  and  the  question 
is,  if  they  are  to  be  removed,  shall  compulsion  be  excluded?  If  the  free  negroes  are  willing  to 
go,  they  Avill  go — if  not  willing,  they  must  be  compelled  to  go.    Some  gentlemen  think  it 
politic,  not  now  to  insert  this  feature  in  the  bill,  though  they  proclaim  their  readiness  to  re- 
sort to  it  when  it  becomes  necessary :  they  think  that  for  a  year  or  tw-o  a  sufficient  number 
will  consent  to  go,  and  then  the  rest  can  be  compelled.    For  my  part,  I  deem  it  better  to  ap- 
proach the  question  and  settle  it  at  once,  and  avow  it  openly.    The  intelligent  portion  of  the 
free  negroes  know  very  vv^ell  wdiat  is  going  on.    Will  they  not  see  your, debates?  Will  they 
not  see  that  coercion  is  ultimately  to  be  resorted  to  ?   They  will  perceive  that  the  edict  has 
gone  forth  ;  and  that  it  must  fall,  if  not  novv,  in  a  short  time  upon  them.    If  capable  of  any 
reflection,  tliey  ^vi][  know,  that  go  they  must,  and  possibly  consent  may  at  once  be  affected 
by  some.    It  is  useless  to  discuss  the  question  whether  we  should  compel  those  to  remove 
who  are  already  willing  to  do  so;  but  it  is  upon  those  who  are  unwilling,  that  the  coercion 
is  to  operate.    Who  has  not  observed  the  proceedings  of  the  great  meeting  of  free  negroes 
last  summer  at  Baltimore,  and  that  they  are  .not  only  uttei4y  opposed  to  emigration  them- 
selves, but  are  making  exertions  to  dissuade  all  others  of  the  same  class,  throughout  our 
country?  They  have,  no  doubt,  emissaries  at  work  every  where,  prejudicing  these  ignorant 
people  against  the  Colonization  Society,  and  all  removal.    The  numbers  willing  to  go,  are 
fcAver  and  fewer  every  day ;  and  out  of  about  50,000  free  negroes  in  Virginia,  I  have  no  idea, 
from  the  most  extensive  inquiries,  that  1,000  could  be  found  really  willing  to  go  in  five  years. 
I  inquired  of  a  gentleman  of  this  city,  of  inteUigence  and  excellent  opportunities  of  judging, 
how  many  from  all  that  numerous  population  in  Pvichmond  would,  he  supposed,  be  willing 
now  to  remove,  if  every  facility  were  tendered — He  replied,  not  one.  But  suppose  one-third, 
or  one  -half  would  consent  to  be  deported  from  their  native  shores — and  you  are  then  to  stop. 
Will  you  undertake  this  system  on  such  terms?    Will  you  burden  jour  constituents  with 
taxes  for  so  imperfect  a  remedy  to  the  existing  evils?  The  object  in  view,  would  not  be  com- 
mensurate in  importance  with  the  means  w^e  are  exerting.  But,  if  after  tliose  are  removed,  Ave 
intend  in  truth  to  carry  out  the  system  on  the  residue,  f  ask  if  it  would  not  be  more  just,  and 
frank,  and  magnanimous,  to  come  out  at  once,  and  declare  to  all  these  people,  what  it  is  you 
really  intend  in  the  first  instance,  and  Avhat  are  your  ultimate  objects.  Tell  them,  as  this  bill 
does,  we  will  not  remove  a  single  one  against  his  consent,  while  one  is  found  Avilling  to  go — 
we  will  lighten  the  hardship  of  the  system  as  much  as  possible,  by  the  most  humane  regula- 
tions— we  will  sever  no  domestic  ties— separate  no  families — permit  the  county  courts  and 
local  tribimals  to  direct  the  exclusion  or  inclusion  of  any  particular  families  or  individuals  for 
merit,  or  crime,  or  other  considerations  ;  but,  ultimately,  all  must  go,  except  such  as  are  ex- 
cused from  their  age,  or  exemplary  conduct.    Do  this, 'and  the  people,  and  the  objects  to  be 
operated  on  themselves,  would  know  the  full  extent  of  the  proposed' measure,  and  Avhat  they 
had  to  depend  upon.    It  would  be  unfair,  and  most  injurious  to  them,  to  conceal  the  compul- 
sory featm-e  now,  with  a  mental  reservation,  that  it  is  to  be  adopted  hereafter.    Let  them 
but  know  It  111  time,  and  they  could  be  preparing  for  it.  They  could  sell  their  little  property, 
and  settle  their  affairs :  strike  out  this  feature,  and  you  tantalize  them  with  false  losses,  and 


43 

v/lien  the  comi^ulsory  measure  shall  be  resorted  to,  it  will  f-iH  on  tl?cni  more  lieavily,  becaurc 
moi-e  unexpectedly. 

But,  sir,  there  is  another  consequence  of  inevitable  occurren^f^,  if  I'lis  feature  be  expunged, 
which  I  cannot  contemplate  without  horror.  You  are  to  p-     -  'v  tlie  rcmnv  -         '  l> 

only  as  are  loiUing  to  go.    I  have  already  expres^:ed  it  as  i;;  :  lat  f'  av  , 

voliirdarily  consent  to  emigrate,  if  no  compulsory  measure  b-c  .a' ...  ._(:.  With  i'--.. 
anticipation  of  its  sure  and  certain  arrival,  will,  in  the  mean  time,  go  away — they 
sensible  that  the  time  would  come  when  they  AYOuld  be  forced  to  leave  the  state.  Wi.l:' 
it — you  will  still,  no  doubt,  have  aitplicants  for  removal  equal  to  your  means.  Yes,  sir,  peo- 
ple v/ho  will  not  only  consent,  but  beg  you  to  deport  them.  But  vvhat  sort  of  cmsent — a 
consent  extorted  by  a  series  of  oppressions  calculated  to  render  their  situation  among  us  in- 
supportable. Many  of  those  who  have  already  been  sent  off,  v.  ent  wiih  their  avciocd  consent, 
but  under  the  influence  of  a  more  decided  comi^ulsion  than  any  which  this  bill  Holds  out.  I 
will  not  express,  in  its  full  extent  the  idea  I  entertain  of  wdiat  has  been  done,  or  vrliat  enor- 
mities wUl  be  perpetrated  to  induce  tliis  class  of  persons  to  leav^nhe  state.  Who  does  not 
know  that  when  a  free  negro,  by  crime  or  otherwise,  has  rendered  himself  obnoxious  to  a 
neighborhood,  how  easy  it  is  for  a  party  to  visit  him  one  night,  take  him  from  his  bed  and 
family,  and  apply  to  him  the  gentle  admonition  of  a  severe  flagellation,  to  induce  him  to  con- 
sent to  go  away.  In  a  few  nights  the  dose  can  be  repeated,  perhaps  increased,  until,  in  the 
language  of  the  physicians,  qiamtum  svff.  has  been  admmistered  to  produce  the  desired  ope- 
ration ;  and  the  fellov/  then  hecomes  perfectly  loilUvg  to  move  away.  I  have  certainly  heard, 
if  incorrectly,  the  gentleman  from  Southampton  v/ill  put  me  right,  that  of  the  large  cargo  of 
emigrants  lately  transported  from  that  county  to  Liberia,  all  of  whom  j))-o/essecZ  to  he  ivilling  to 
go,  most  of  them  w^ere  rendered  so,  by  some  such  severe  ministrations  as  those  I  have  described.* 
A  Lynch  club — a  committee  of  vigilance — could  easily  exercise  a  kind  of  inquisitorial  surveil- 
lance over  any  neighborhood ;  and  convert  any  desired  number,  I  have  no  doubt,  at  auy*time, 
into  a  willingness  to  be  removed.  But  wdio  really  prefers  such  means  as  these  to  ihi  course 
projDOsed  in  this  bill?  And  one  or  the  other  is  inevitable.  For  no  matter  how  you  change 
this  bill — sooner  or  later  the  free  negroes  will  be  forced  to  leave  the  state  Indeed,  sir,  all  of 
us  look  to  force  of  some  kind  or  other',  direct  or  indirect,  moral  or  physical,  legal  or  illegal. 
Many  who  are  opposed,  they  say,  to  any  comjDulsory  feature  in  the  bill,  desire  to  introduce 
such  severe  regulations  into  onr  police  laws — such  restrictions  of  their  existing  privileges — 
such  inability  to  hold  property — obtain  emj^loyment — rent  residences,  &c.,  as  to  make  it  im- 
possible for  them  to  remain  among  us.    Is  not  this  force  ? 

I  am  one  of  those  who  think  legal  force  less  excejDtionable  than  jorivate  or  indirect  compul- 
sion— because,  it  wiU  be  more  general  and  uniform  in  its  a;"]".l3cnri'  ; — 1  ernv:-  o  it  will  be  mor< 
just  and  impartial  in  its  operation — because  it  will  be  ' .         '  1  can  be  pro- 

vided for — because  it  is  more  consistent  with  open  de:v  — because  tie 

other  Avill  be  harsh,  arbitrary,  capricious,  unequal,  unexpcciecl,  unjust,  Rnd  cruel.  Unter 
this  bill  their  consent  would  be  won  by  mild  means — none  to  be  compelled  in  the  firstin- 
stance — and  even,  ultimately,  every  precaution  which  humanity  can  dictate,  is  interposed 
for  their  comfort. 

I  have  not  been  sanguine  for  some  days,  that  any  efficient  measure  would  be  adoptoi  on 
this  subject,  though  all  of  us  profess  anxiety  to  effect  something.  Some  of  us  are  opposed  to 
any  measure,  if  compulsion  is  to  be  resorted  to.  Some  tell  you  they  foresee  that  it  is  to  bo 
stricken  out,  and  that  they  cannot  then  support  it.  Some  are  opposed  to  force,  be-an  e  they 
are,  in  truth,  enemies  to  any  bill  on  the  subject,  and  think  that  thus  the  measure  vv  :lloe  ren- 
dered inefficient.  Some  are  opposed  to  it,  because  they  are  not  wiUing  to  adop;  such  a 
measure  at  this  session — they  wish  to  put  off  the  unpleasant  cup  one  yeai\  Some  aie  oppos- 
ed to  force,  because  they  honestly  believe, -that  subjects  for  transportation  can  be  found  in 
sufficient  numbers  without  it.  And  some,  because  they  prefev  private  ivfaiences  to 'legally 
authorised  comj^ulsion.  Among  these  discrepant  views,  I  fear  that  the  just  expectations  of 
our  constituents,  are  not  to  be  realized. 

Some  are  of  opinion,  that  if  force  be  introduced,  we  are  depriving  ourselves  of  the  aid  of 
the  Colonization  Society.  But  why  so  ?  The  society  will  be  willing  to  aid  us  in  the  trans- 
portation of  all  who  consent  to  go — and  it  will  only  become  necessary  for  us  to  resoit  to 
other  means  after  all  have  been  removed  that  this  society,  from  its  established  princijjles, 
coidd  remove.  So  that  we  lose  nothing  in  that  way.  It  is  said,  too,  that  we  are  dependent 
exclusively  on  Liberia  to  receive  them — that  its  capacities  for  reception  are  so  limited,  that' 
it  is  unnecessary  at  present  to  provide  for  the  removal  of  all  the  colored  population.  Sir,  the 
bill  looks  to  the  acquisition  of  additional  territory,  which  can  readily  be  acquired,  by  means 
proposed  on  your  table,  to  an  extent,  capable  of  sustainmg  ten  times  the  amount  of  this 
population. 

*Mr.  B.  understanding,  after  he  had  closed  his  remarks,  that  these  observations  were  con- 
strued by  some,  as  implying  a  censure  on  the  Colonization  Society,  and  to  coivey  the  idea 
that  its  agents  had  removed  persons  of  color  whose  consent  had  been  forced,  vith  the  know- 
ledge or  approbation  of  the  society,  rose  again  and  disclaimed  it  promptly  uid  earnestly — 
stating  that  he  himself  had  long  been  an  humble  member  of  that  society  ard  scarcely  could 
have  designed  an  impeachment  of  the  purity  of  its  motives,  or  the  correctness  of  its  pjitt- 
ceedings.  That  the  free  negroes  to  whom  he  alluded  had  had  their  conserl  extorted,  if  at  all, 
long  before  tliey  had  applied  to  tliis  society  for  transportation,  and  that  ne  had  no  idea  that 
the  agents  of  tlic  society  were  aware  of  it — much  less  active  in  it. 


44 


I  have  heard  of  one  objection  to  this  measure,  at  which  I  was  certainly  surprised.  It  was 
a  constitutional  impediment  to  this  compulsory  principle-  Really,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  al- 
ways supposed  that  I  was,  according  to  the  straitest  sect,  a  Pharisee  in  my  political  opinions 
— that  if  there  was,  v/hat  is  usually  denominated  on  the  south  side,  a  strict  state's  right  man, 
in  the  world,  that  I  v/as  one.  But  of  late,  I  so  often  read  and  hear  of  the  constitution  being 
introduced  in  opposition  to  every  sort  of  thing,  that  I  fear  that  mantle,  which  has  hitherto 
protected  us  from  so  many  evils,  will  become  threadbare,  or  torn  to  pieces,  from  absolute 
ridicule  and  contempt.  I  wish  gentlemen  would  point  out  what  part  of  the  constitution  it  is 
— what  clause — what  section,  that  this  principle  violates.  In  truth,  free  negroes  have  many 
legal  rights  and  privileges  in  Virginia,  but  no  constitutional  ones — they  are  not  citizens,  or 
members  of  the  body  politic  ;  but  suppose  they  were,  it  will  surely  not  be  contended,  that 
the  constitution  denies  or  withholds  such  a  poioer  ?  We  are  not  discussing  the  pohcy,  the 
humanity,  or  the  justice  of  deporting  these  people  by  force — that  belongs  to  a  different  branch 
of  the  subject; — but  simply  the  constitutional  power  which  the  state  government  possesses  to 
effect  such  an  object.  Sir,  the  state  not  only  has  this  power,  but  it  has  been  repeatedly  ex- 
ercised, and  has  been  acquiesced  in  by  every  department  of  the  government.  A  statute  some 
years  ago  commuted  the  f)revious  punishment  of  free  negroes  for  certain  offences,  and  pro- 
vided that,  on 'conviction,  they  should  forfeit  their  freedom,  be  sold  as  slaves,  and  sent  out  of 
the  state.  The  Legislature  enacted  it — the  Judiciary,  in  a  full  general  court,  decided, — on 
that  point  being  expressly  made  for  adjudication, — that  the  law  was  not  unconstitutional ; 
and  the  Executive  department  executed  the  decision.  It  does  not  affect  this  question — that 
this  punishment  was  for  crime — and  the  deportation  here  to  be  enforced,  does  not  presup- 
pose offence.  That  may  be  an  argument  against  the  expediency  of  the  measure,  but  does  not 
touch  the  constitutional  question — whether  the  government  possesses  the  poioer  of  enacting 
such  a  provision? — And  if  it  possesses  the  power,  it  is  to  judge  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  may  be  judicious  to  exercise  it?  Indeed,  it  seems  to  me  rather  a  morbid  exhibition 
of  sensibility,  to  talk  about  its  being  unconstitutional  to  send  a  free  negro  out  of  the  state, 
when  we  have,  every  now  and  then,  to  send,  not  only  free  negroes,  but  white  men  also — not 
only  out  of  the  state,  but  out  of  the  world.  We  may  imprison,  banish,  or  hang  white  or 
black,  but  not  compel  a  free  negro  to  remove,  to  where  his  condition  will  be  infinitely  better 
than  it  ever  can  be  here  !  I  do  not  think  that  there  can  be  any  just,  conststutional  scruples  in- 
volved ;  and  on  the  score  of  humanity,  I  really  think  that>  all  the  humanity  and  mercy  con- 
nected with  this  question,  are  on  my  side  of  it — that  those  will  be  much  more  happily  con- 
\sulted,  by  retaining  this  compulsory  feature  in  the  bill,  than  by  expunging  it. 


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